Gravity Over Hearts
by Cheri Berry Keyblade
Summary: (Monster AU) The woods of Gravity Falls holds more than meets the eye, bearing the lives of an odd family of monster creatures, very sweet family indeed, one of their youngest being the bright light of Sora. He is the bridge of love that holds families together, but is he also what can tear them apart too?
1. Opening Book

There once lived a family deep, deep in the mysterious forest of Gravity Falls. It was a very large family- a pack, a tribe. The united tribe consisted of two different families as well, brought together by the holy ceremony of marriage— a fox tribe, the Vulpes Tribe, and a wolf tribe, the Lupus tribe. Together, they made the Vulpes-Lupus clan. They all loved each other as families should despite the differences in their species.

Within that small village of foxes and wolves, breathed a child. He was only but a moon old. He was the child of the wolf-man and the fox-woman. He also had a brother, older by five winters. The baby's name was Sora, a fine specimen of wolf, fox, and human— his upper body human and his bottom half connected to the body of a pale brown pup. They called him the "folftaur" jokingly.

His brother's name was Vanity within Ashes, Vanitas for short (since his dear brother had trouble pronouncing his full name, it just stuck). Vanitas was a happy child, a pure black wolf, the same as his father and past mother. Everyone could tell he took after the warrior wolf what with his hair, and they could see Sora was soon following suit— yet he held his mother's soft baby blue eyes. Vanitas loved them, though.

Each night, Vanitas and Sora would fall asleep to their mother's gentle lullabies, as would the other children of the pack when they came to sleep over. Her soft voice would echo into the night, soothing the creatures of the deep forest and lulling her children into the world of sleep and dreams.

 _"My dearly beloved,_  
 _Be strong I shall be there,_  
 _Always here beside you._  
 _So keep your head held high._  
 _The shadows of this world will try to steal you away into their arms,_  
 _But you belong in mine..."*_

Vanitas will never forget the words nor the melody.

Moons upon moons later, two winters had passed and Sora was growing to be a strong boy while Vanitas was already learning to use a bow and arrow, just like his father. He would bring home squirrels to feast upon with the tribe. Sora looked up to his brother like he was a mighty warrior, adoring him to pieces and Vanitas did the same.

One day, their parents agreed on bringing the two on a walk through a secret path only known to their clan. It was common to their kind to walk on this path, after all it was known to be peaceful. They were well aware that it was hunting season for the humans, but they thought they wouldn't be seen.

It was a bloodbath.

A man, his hair pulled back in a ponytail, his face scarred like a warrior. He wielded some sort of magical weapon that shot faster than a bow. It stuck his mother in the chest. Vanitas was quick on his paws, however. He ran for cover with Sora holding onto his hand while his father howled for the tribe to run— their secret home had been compromised by humans.

Vanitas, hidden well in an old fox hole, kept his brother safe and oblivious to the grotesque sounds from the hunter and his claim; he knew how to care for his brother even in the more dire of times. He made sure the boy kept quiet while the hunter cut and bagged his dead parents. Why? Why would someone do such a thing? It was a horrible idea to begin with. They should have waited. They should have.

For three days, the boys stayed in the burrow, too scared that the hunter would come back again to find them or the pack. When they finally had enough nerve to leave and return home, they were crushed to find their little village deserted.

Day by day, the two waited, and waited, and waited for them to return... Day by day, the young black wolf grew more and more bitter until he finally lost hope and took Sora away from the place, seeking the survive on their own instead. After all, if Vanitas knew how to bag squirrels, he could take care of the two of them.

The tale of the two brothers began here.

* * *

 *** Lyrics by AmaLee on youtube, from her take on Dearly Beloved**

 **Well! What started out as a silly doodle of foxtaur!sora to a roleplay verse to an actual fanfic, I'd say I'm mighty proud! But I couldn't do it without my friend, who owns a roleplay account as well as I on tumblr where-loyxlties-lie. You should check her out!**

 **I've got GOH all written out in my head, all that's needed is to write it _all_ out. Anyway, so here's the plan: the years leading up to 2012 will be written like memories and/or fairy tales (ie. this chapter) and once 2012 hits, then I'm back to how I usually write. This fic will also parallel GF episodes, meaning Dipper and co. exist and do their thing alongside Vanitas and Sora's story. So, yeah. Taking Qs and stuff here and I'll post a Q &A chapter later on. Oh! And you can catch any other info needed on my tumblr blog: Loyal-toxthe-bxne on tumblr verses Sora Monster/Gravity Falls au! Ask box is open to all, so feel free to pester the boys!**


	2. If You Fall, Get Back Up

Fall of 2001

"Vani, 'm hung'y," complained the smaller pup, holding his arms as the autumn breeze blew against them, causing a chill to go through them. Sora sniffled as he followed his brother slowly through a stone path over a stream. "An' cold..."

Vanitas grunted softly, reaching the other side of the water flow and turning around to help his little brother across. "I know, Sora. I am too, but we gotta find somewhere safe to stay first, 'kay? Then we can find food and get all warm and stuff, okay?"

Taking the wolf's hand and pulling himself up, Sora nodded, his ears folded back. "M'kay."

With a sigh, Vanitas pulled the smaller boy close to him, rubbing his arms a bit to warm him up. "We're almost there, alright?" Sora nodded, still holding his hand. Both their stomachs whined pitifully.

Emotion bubbled up in Sora, tears welling up and threatening to spill over but Sora rubbed them away— however, it hardly did anything since more just seemed to fall after one another. The brunet stopped, causing the older brother to pause, turning around to see him sobbing softly. Vanitas let a small gasp escape from him, coming close to Sora and lowering himself a little.

"Sora? Sora, what's wrong?" he inquired, even though he knew what was wrong. heck, if he wasn't trying to be strong for Sora, he'd be blubbering too. The younger pup's lip quivered and he pulled at the edge of his shirt as tears fell freely.

"I don' like this!" he cried, burying his face into the raven's stomach, wrapping his arms around him and sobbing into his shirt. Vanitas hesitated for a moment before returning the embrace, petting Sora's hair down while hushing him softly.

"I-I know..." he replied gently. "Wh-why don't we just... Find a place to rest and- and I'll find something to eat and then we- we can sleep, alright?" They didn't part yet, even when Sora nodded with a muffled sound of agreement. After a moment of staying there, Sora calmed, the two began walking again, their hands holding each other.

They walked nearly two miles before Sora's legs were trembling from fatigue. The air began to feel thick, the scent of rain carrying through the breeze. Vanitas ended up having to carry the lighter boy on his furry back, seeing as how the youth looked just about to faint. With tiny arms wrapped around his neck, Vanitas trudged on, hurrying to find somewhere to rest before it began to rain.

Ten minutes passed, sprinkles of water finally reaching the ground. Fortunately Vanitas found an abandoned den, really just a small hole between two rocks. The scent of wolf was stale; it seemed as though it was abandoned many, many moons ago... It should be safe enough for them, just for the night at least.

Sora was already curled up in the back of the small sanctuary, sleeping in silence yet he twitched once or twice unconsciously. Outside it seemed like someone was pouring buckets of water out; Vanitas found it puzzling how quickly a gentle drizzle could turn into ruthless, cold rain. He sat in silence, simply watching the water descend and listening to its steady trickling and thumping on the ground.

An hour passed and the rain let down a little, but it was still very wet outside. Vanitas couldn't afford to go out in search of food now; what if Sora woke up and went searching for him? That boy would follow him to the ends of the earth, and he was already very tired. What if he caught a cold and couldn't take care of Sora anymore? A sick body did no good for anyone.

The raven sighed after his stomach rumbled sadly, seemingly trying to eat itself. Holding his stomach with a grunt, he crawled back into the hole to curl next to Sora, to give him more warmth. As he laid by him, his tail curled around the smaller boy, Vanitas paused, holding his breath to listen more closely. ... Okay, good, he was still breathing...

Sighing in relief, he wrapped his arms around him and slowly fell asleep to the trickling of rain on the probably-mushy ground.

* * *

There was a bang that echoed through the air. Vanitas' heart shot itself into his throat and he scrambled up straight, nearly slamming his head into the rocky ceiling. A yelp sounded from him and he held his head, hissing loudly in pain.

"Sora?!" He called before he even had the chance to look around for him.

"'M right 'ere," Sora groggily answered, raising his head and rubbing his eye. "Vani, wha's wrong?" Now he stared up with curious, blue eyes.

Vanitas blinked, laying his lower body down hesitantly. His heart was pounding in his ears. Rubbing his head, he inhaled and exhaled, attempting to calm himself. The raven swallowed and ran his hand through his hair. "N-Nothin', Sor... I-I was just spooked is all."

Sora's gaze remained on his brother for a moment more, studying him before wordlessly shuffling over and curling himself against his dark fur. Vanitas curled his tail around him in response. Turning his head, the wolf stared at the raging storm outside. Thunder. That must be why he woke up...

How long had it been raining? How long had they been sleeping? Vanitas was famished, and he was sure Sora was too, but he couldn't go out there. On top of the risk of getting a cold, apparently there was the chance of getting electrocuted as well. Heck no. Better to play it safe.

Another sigh and Vanitas finally felt calm enough to return to sleep. Laying his upper body down, he maneuvered his body onto his side and pulled Sora in closer with his paws. Vanitas continued to flinch at the crackling and banging of the sky, but soon enough, he too fell asleep.

* * *

The morning came with the happy whistling of the forest birds. The chirping had woken Sora first— he had a fascination with sounds of all sorts. Although he was still exhausted and starving, Sora had found the energy to play outside while his brother continued to sleep. He must have been really sleepy to still be napping.

Sora played with the mud and the rocks and leaves until he was tired again, soon growing cranky while his stomach attempted to eat itself. He didn't want to wake Vanitas up, but he knew he'd be super grumpy if he found out he went to look for food on his own. Vanitas didn't like it when Sora did that. Using his better judgement, the hybrid pup opted to wake him up, albeit reluctantly.

"Vani?" Sora had begun, shaking the older wolf slightly. "Vani! 'M hungry! The rain stopped a long time ago; can we find somethin' ta eat?" Vanitas stirred at this, grunting and rolling over in a lame attempt to stay asleep. Sora pouted at this and shook him more. "Vani! You slept for a long time! 'M hungry, let's go eat!"

After a moment or so of staring at the wolf, he slowly sat up with one hand holding himself up, making his body in the strange shape of an 'L' while finally acknowledging his brother and his own rumbling stomach. His hair was a mess— messier than it usually is. Yawning with a stretch, Vanitas opened his eyes and gave Sora a look. "What..?" he groggily inquired, rubbing his eye.

"'M hungry!" Sora repeated, upset that he had to say it thrice already. He bounced a bit, crossing his arms. "I wan' food!"

Vanitas stared for a moment before he cracked a grin and chuckled, rolling over to stand up and crawl out of the rocky den. "Alright, alright." Coming outside, he stretched his furry limbs out and cracked his upper back backwards and then forwards. When he got his stretches done, he flicked his back tail, beckoning Sora to follow him. "Let's get some food."

Joyfully, the smaller male beamed and bounced on after his brother.

* * *

Brunch was almost a success. They had managed to scare off a badger and attempted to feast on its meal, but it came back with another badger, in turn scaring them away. Though, on the way back to the den, they did find a fairly nice berry patch— raspberries. They ate nearly two hand-fulls of the berries before a mother bear came strolling along, scaring them away too.

Despite the obvious fail, Sora was happy. They ate berries and had a taste of a... Whatever that badger had, Sora honestly couldn't tell what it was, but it tasted funny for sure...

Vanitas, on the other hand, was both pleased and upset. Pleased because the boy holding his hand was at least mostly satisfied with finally eating something but upset because some berries and a fifth of a piece of funny meat was not his definition of an ideal breakfast. What was in that meat, anyway? Vanitas shook his head, grateful the taste had been long washed out by the wild berries.

As the two walked back to the den, they decided to play a small game to pass the time. They played I Spy, in which Vanitas kept making it easy for Sora, always saying "I spy something.. green!" only for Sora to exclaim "Tree!" It was dumb, but Sora enjoyed it so that's all that mattered.

Reaching the den finally, Sora had stopped and held himself, giving a whine. Vanitas raised his ears before lowering them and coming closer to his brother. "Sora? Sora, what's the matter?"

"M...my tummy hurts..." the four-year-old softly explained with a grunt. "Really bad..."

"Oh.. W-well, why don't we go and-" he paused before groaning as well, feeling a twist in his stomach as well. "Wh-what..?" What was happening? Vanitas kneeled down on his front paws and suppressed a whine.

He glanced to Sora, whose face grew sickly. He looked about to pass out, his face cringed so painfully— then he fell over.

"Sora!" Vanitas gasped and quickly bent down to roll him over, lift him up— but something inside him lurched and his sight suddenly disoriented, double of the same thing in his vision. "What..?" He stumbled forward and tried to catch himself before he lost his balance and followed his brother to the ground.

Laying on the ground, seemingly paralyzed, Vanitas gazed at Sora, golden eyes wide and fearful. Sora was unconscious. Why was this happening?! A memory floated up then. The meat. He knew it smelled funny, and it tasted strange too. Oh no... was it poisoned? No, no, no, he did not let them both eat POISONED FOOD!

His sight was beginning to grow fuzzier and fuzzier, colors blending together strangely. He tried to scream, make a noise, call for help, do something, but he couldn't move or make a sound. So the raven laid there, staring at what he assumed to be Sora— Wait, there was a brown figure in the distance… he couldn't tell who it was but… everything was darkening… was it a human? They were growing bigger… Oh, they were goners…

 _Sora, I'm sorry…_

Everything went black.

* * *

Vanitas' eyes shot open when the sound of crying reached his ears. Scurrying up on all fours, the wolf spun around, golden eyes frantically searching the area. "Sora?!" he called, not seeing his brother anywhere. Where was he? It was dark.. Was this some sort of cave? Vanitas extended his hand to feel the wall— rock. Before, he noticed he was laying on some sort of straw nest. There was another nest right next to it and by that nest, there was a hole full of water in the ground. He didn't bother to inspect it. "Sora?!" he called out again.

He heard voices. A male's voice. It was soothing something, or.. someone. A sobbing sound accompanied the voice. Ears pricked up, he followed the voice quickly through a hall connected to his room. He soon saw a fireplace, and the crying and gentle shushing grew louder, clearer. Entering another room, Vanitas' ears pointed up in alarm as he saw his little brother crouched over a bucket, crying and throwing up.

Next to him, there knelt a man, rubbing Sora's back soothingly and hushing him gently. He was muscular and had dark brown hair— there were large antlers that sprouted from his head and his lower body was that of a deer. A deer-man? What was he doing to his brother?!

Standing paralyzed, thinking of what to do, Vanitas spotted a stack of firewood waiting to be used against the wall to his left. Holding his breath and keeping himself close to calm, he made his way to the pile and grabbed one of the blocks of wood. It was heavy, though. It weighed his arms down and he wondered if he could really lift it? Holding his breath again, he lifted it high enough to where it wouldn't drag but it took a lot out of him— especially as he was now.

Sora's choked sobbing tore his heart to shreds and it made it even harder for him to keep calm and concentrate. Clearing his throat, Vanitas started, "Wh-what did you do to him?!" The man's ears pointed up in alarm and he turned his head around. He seemed happy, seeing the boy awake and well.

"Ah, you're awake," the deer-man stated cheerfully, his hand still on Sora's back, moving in circular motions to help calm him. Vanitas stared for a moment more, conflicted. Why was this man doing that? He shook his head and brought the piece of wood up with all his strength, his arms shaking.

"I-I asked you a question!" he yelled, his voice cracking before he repeated his inquiry, "What did- what are you doing to him?! Wh-why is he throwing up?!"

The man didn't seem phased by this, his soft smile still remaining. That caught Vanitas ever more off guard. What game was this guy playing at?

The deer-man continued casually, ignoring the obvious "threat" the boy held to him, "I saw you two eating that piece of meat earlier, but you didn't seem to notice it was drugged… Probably by some punk human kid. I was worried so I followed you both, in case you got sick and, well, sure enough…" He motioned to Sora who had mostly calmed down. He was sitting by Terra, eyes downcast and still wet, but he looked so small… "I gave you both some berries to help you throw that stuff up. You were so out of it, you fell asleep right after so I left you sleeping in that room."

Vanitas' arms had already gave out from holding the piece of wood. He seemed lost— no, confused is the word, perhaps? Yes, confused. He looked to Sora, who now seemed about ready to pass out and go to sleep. Guilt swelled up in him. Well, they didn't eat any poison per say, but it was close to it… still, how did his scents fail him so terribly? Was he really that hungry he would ignore the obvious clues of tampered food? He hadn't realized he was so close to crying until the man gave him a gentle look.

"Well," the brunet began, trying to change the subject. "I think Sora here's okay now.. You both must be starving after all that. My mate should be returning with fish soon, if you'd like to stay—"

"You-your mate?" Vanitas echoed, worry bubbling up. There were more of them?

The adult's gentle look wavered to that of confusion before it returned to a soft yet flustered smile. He must be a newly wed. "Ah, yes. She's nice, though, so you don't have to worry about—" Vanitas shook his head quickly, making up his mind.

"I-It's okay," the raven interrupted again, dropping the piece of wood completely. "No, I.. think we should be leaving now… I-I don't even know where we are, who- who you are. I mean, for all I know, you could have drugged us too, and—"

"But I didn't."

The wolf blinked, pausing. "Wh… what?"

The man straightened, standing up. He suddenly looked much bigger than he was before— but he still retained that gentle look on his face, patience. It was patience. He continued, his blue eyes hardening however, "If I had the wrong intentions, I would have done it to you already, would I not? I could have left your brother to die, but I didn't. I took both of you and helped you. Why would I do that if I wanted to hurt you?"

Vanitas hesitated, staring at him with large, golden eyes. They darted to Sora, who was holding onto the deer's hand while dozing off. He bit his lip and shook his head, stepping back. "I-I don't know, I.. I'm… Sorry… I just… wanna protect my- my brother… I-I don't even know you..!" The last bit was added in a whisper, but the man caught it anyway. His eyes softened and he knelt down, his front lowering before his end followed.

"My name is Terra," he finally introduced himself, a smile drawing his lips up. "This is where I live with my mate, Aqua. I am here to help you. Both you and Sora… Now, would you please tell me your name?"

The wolf hesitated once more, astonished by the man's straightforwardness and kindness. Was he serious? He looked to Sora again and was even more surprised when he saw the man— Terra— pulling him into his arms and cradling him as he slept, dry tears marking his face. Swallowing, he fought back his protective nature, trying to convince himself that this man was nice, he was here to help, he was good. Finally, the nine-year-old nodded.

"Vanitas.. My.. My name's Vanitas," he answered. "And.. We'd- we'd like to stay for a little while."

* * *

 **Not much to say atm, other than fanfic or something messed up the coding on this doc... eugh.. anyway, hope you liked!**


	3. Dream Spirits

Spring of 2003

Stay low. Feel the ground. Brown paws tensed in the dirt. Keep the scent on your nose. Inhale. Exhale. Okay, now crouch... Ready those hind legs... All set... POUNCE!

"Raa!" Sora howled, jumping from behind the bush he was hiding in and pouncing on his brother. Vanitas feigned surprise, instantly rolling on his back and roaring in defeat.

"Ahhhh! You got me!" cried Vanitas, playing dead with his tongue out and arm over his eyes. Sora giggled cheerfully, satisfied with his "catch". Poking his eye open, Vanitas then shot up and began tickling the hybrid, his squeals echoing in the air loudly. "But I've got _you!_ Roaar!"

"Nooooo!" Sora squirmed around on the ground as his lower belly was assaulted by the tickle monster. Finally flipping around and getting out from his brother's attack, he squealed loudly and ran away, Vanitas laughing and running after. Terra was nearby, sorting berries in his basket. When he rose, Sora quickly ran under him, giggling and hiding behind his legs. Terra chuckled as he regain his balance and composure after being startled by the pup's antics. The basket he was working with nearly tipped over into the water by them, but Terra made sure to keep it close with his hoof.

Vanitas chased after him, his head lowered and hands up, threatening to tickle him more. "I'm gonna getcha, Sor," he cackled as he crawled around Terra, eyes trained on the smaller brunet. "You can't hide there forever!"

"Can too!" Sora squeaked, sticking his tongue out. Gazing up, he added softly toward Terra, "Can I?"

The larger man chuckled again at that, "No, Sora. I'm afraid you can't. Sorry, bud!" Sora pouted at this and Vanitas howled in laughter.

"Gotta come out sooner or later!"

"Alright, boys," came the soft voice of Aqua, accompanied by a giggle of her own. The three turned their heads to acknowledge the blue haired mermaid who held a spear with three fish impaled. She set them down as Terra readied the cooking area with his two special stones. "Get ready for lunch. I've already scaled and gutted them."

The two boys had been living with the two in the cave behind the waterfall for nearly two years now. To Vanitas' alarm, they had learned the "mate" Terra was talking about was actually a mermaid. It turns out they had a fallen in love when he was just a fawn and she a mere merchild. They didn't care that they couldn't have children together— they swore they'd make it work and they did. The cave behind the waterfall had other caves and in those caves held holes of water that connected to the lake, where she came from. Their love was so strong, not even land could keep them apart. Vanitas had to admit, as mushy and corny as it sounded, it was pretty impressive.

That night two years ago, after eating and resting, Vanitas tried to take Sora and leave, but the couple didn't allow them to. They felt "morally inclined" to help and raise them. Much to the wolf's dismay, Sora even started calling them "Momma" and "Daddy". Sure, it was all nice and they finally had food and a warm place to sleep in, and all that good stuff, but as far as Vanitas was concerned, these two would _never_ be respected as his parents.

He was positive one day, he'd make Sora see the same way.

Speaking of Sora, the young six-year-old was bouncing in excitement as Terra started a fire to roast the fish. Sora hated to eat it raw— all that red stuff everywhere, eugh. Vanitas, on the other hand, couldn't care less if it was cooked or raw. Food was food to him, regardless of what it looked or felt like. With the strong stomach of a wolf, he was unaffected by raw meat, unlike the weak human. Terra, a " _vegetarian_ ", thought it unhealthy to eat things raw, no matter how much he hated meat. That overgrown jackrabbit was always insisting on them eating the fish cooked.

Gathering himself, the wolf padded over to the flame where he attempted to calm the excited nut he called his brother as they waited for the fish to be done. "Calm down, you butt," Vanitas joked, patting Sora's bobbing head down.

"Hey! 'M no butt!" replied the brunet, sticking his tongue out. "You're a butt!"

"You're both butts," Terra added with a chuckle as he set down one crisp fish with a stick onto a clay bowl. Vanitas grumbled at that a bit, but he didn't comment any further.

They stood in peaceful silence as the deer laid the fish over the flame, rotating it before all three fish were done and ready to be eaten. Aqua lifted herself up onto the grass before dipping her hands in the water to clean them, then she began her meal. "Thank you sweetie," she expressed her gratitude to her husband for cooking the food. Terra grinned at her as he drew his basket of berries in front of him. That was his meal.

Vanitas rolled his eyes. _Grass eaters,_ he scoffed mentally and began to eat his fish off the stick. Sora saw his brother and started to do the same, lifting the smallest fish of them all on the stick and tearing its hard skin apart. Noticing this, Terra stopped him, reaching his hand out to lower the fish. "Ah, Sora, you shouldn't eat it like that."

Sora paused, letting the brunet lower his hand while tilting his head. "Why not?"

"There are a lot of little bones inside of it," the man patiently explained. "It'll hurt your stomach if you eat it like that. Here, let me get them all out for you."

Vanitas couldn't sit there, eating his fish and pretending like he wasn't annoyed by that, honestly. Rolling his eyes again and lowering his skewered fish, he groaned, "Why didn't you do that _before_ you gave it to him?" Terra ignored his remark, simply going on with cutting the fish and separating the bones. It bothered Vanitas how nit-picky Terra was. He was always neat, always clean, and always making sure everything was in its place. They lived in a stinking cave, for crying out loud! Why be so…

Human-like?

 _Oh_ , Vanitas realized. _Terra's just a human wanna-be, huh?_ The raven gave an irritated glare at Terra and the bouncing Sora, cutting the food with sharpened sticks. Like humans. His eye twitched and he flinched when he felt a cold hand touch his arm. Turning his head quickly, he stared into Aqua's azure gaze, soft and warm to look into yet startlingly aquatic, almost like the color in her eyes _was_ water.

"Are you alright?" the water dweller inquired softly, her head tilted and eyes narrowed in concern. "You seem tense."

The wolf stared a bit more, eyes narrowing as well but his golden orbs held suspicion and confusion. A moment or two passed and he shook his head, looking back to his fish before tearing into it again, finding the little bones in the meat and spitting them into the fire. "Nothing," he answered oddly, his mouth full of food. Aqua furrowed her brows.

"It doesn't seem like 'nothing'," she prodded, ignoring the slight gaze of Terra as they spoke. He continued to prepare Sora's food. "Please, Vanitas, I want you to know if there's something bothering you, you can talk to us. You do know that, don't you?"

The boy's gaze was kept lowered and he played with the inside of his cheek. Some part of him wanted to accept this love, to accept this care and return it in some way, but he just felt _wrong_ about it. Like he was replacing his own parents with these… people. Shutting his eyes, he nodded to Aqua. An empty promise. "I know."

* * *

When they had finished eating, Sora had fallen asleep by Vanitas, or rather _on_ Vanitas, rendering the youth immobile for the time being. He knew once Sora woke up, he'd search for his chew toy and then be unable to be calmed. It caused them all headaches for awhile, but that was Sora.

The day was beautiful, the grass was nice and soft, the birds were singing, the sun was warm on Vanitas' fur. Yes, it was very nice. Laying his upper body down, the raven let out a sigh.

Maybe life here wouldn't be so bad? If he had Sora, he'd be okay.

* * *

Fall of 2006

Over the few short years that Terra and Aqua have had the boys, they've learned quite a lot about them and each other.

Sora was the most hyperactive child Terra had ever laid his eyes upon. He loved the sun and would roll in it with his toys whenever he could. This, however, caused him to have freckles all over his body— mostly because he refused to wear a shirt even though Terra insisted on it. Now he does, though. He also hated baths. No, he _loathed_ them. Once, he even made Terra fall into the water with him. Suffice to say, that day, water had won that battle.

Vanitas, on the other hand, was very quiet and when he had something to say, it was either always a sarcastic remark or it was concerning Sora or talking _to_ Sora. Terra and Vanitas didn't get along well, mostly since their tastes and perspectives clashed like fire and ice. Vanitas and Aqua, though, they were okay. Aqua was patient and gentle, much more so than Terra, which was probably why Vanitas liked her better. The two brothers, however, their bond was still as tight as ever.

Aqua also found out Terra's patience can run out after three hours of a constant repeating of "PLEASE? PLEASE? PLEASE? PLEASE?" She's never seen Vanitas so angry after calming the crying Sora down. At this point, Terra didn't know if Aqua even _had_ a breaking point. They weren't perfect parents, anyone could tell, but so far, they'd done a nice job with Sora- the boy was growing up the be very kindhearted and energetic. Vanitas…. well, they were pretty sure they couldn't warm him like they did Sora. And that was okay. The wolf hadn't left or threatened them yet, so they must be doing _something_ right.

Life was okay. Generally, everyone was happy, though the occasional family dispute did arise but what family didn't have that?

Yes, everything was fine, but soon something became… off.

* * *

" _**WELL, IT'S TIME TO GET DOWN TO THE NITTY GRITTY, AIN'T IT? "**_

* * *

Sora opened his arctic blue eyes. Sharp pupils widened in awe at the dazzling space before him. He'd never seen the stars so close and so pretty before, they were mesmerizing. One, two, no, _three_ stars were moving. They all were, actually! Some were very subtle while others shot across the purple sky. "Whoa…" the nine-year-old gaped. His black ears were pricked up not in fear or caution, but in wonder. It never occurred to him that he was not home.

No, this felt warmer than home and yet Sora couldn't place where. Such warmth and safety… Sora sighed, pleased, and closed his eyes. There was no wind, yet his fur was ruffled by something cool and refreshing. He stayed like that, just _feeling_ for a while before he opened his sparkling eyes to watch the sky again. He only noticed then that he was standing on a lonely hill, high above all the trees and closer to the stars dazzling above.

 _Is this a dream?_ he wondered, sitting his tail down. Suddenly the cool air around him froze over. It reached his heart and it lurched with sudden fear. Clouds began to take shape and latch onto each other, forming some large _thing_ in the sky. The stars all died, vanishing into the dark sky. Sora couldn't feel any wind, but there was some sort of _pressure_ that was pushing him back. The boy's heart was unwavering now, however.

"What's happening?!" he asked himself aloud. The clouds swirled and swirled like a whirlpool, lightning flashing in an array of colors and Sora could feel the static! Oh yes, it was very powerful! He thought it might explode in his face right then and there, and then—

Out popped a yellow triangle, and they were suddenly on a bright, glassy platform, the previous scenery shattering and deteriorating like petals in the wind.

"WOO! WASN'T THAT A DOOZY? HAHA!" it laughed. The brunet reoriented himself, standing straight and gazing up with a confused gaze. The… _thing_ seemed not to notice, forming a top hat, a cane, and a bow to accessorize itself with. "OOPS! CAN'T FORGET THESE!"

"Huh?" Sora raised a brow, tilting his head at a 90 degree angle, so hopelessly confused by the thing. "Wh… who are you? _What_ are you..?" He neared the triangle, standing on his hind legs to make himself taller in order to try and sniff at it.

Blinking its one eye, finally taking note of the forest dweller, the yellow thing grew closer. It was a lot smaller than what Sora had anticipated. "HEY, YOU MUST BE SORA!" Said child widened his eyes at that. It knew him? The golden being extended its arm out. "YOU CAN CALL ME A FRIEND!"

"F-friend? Well… W-wait, how did you know—"

"DON'T SWEAT THE DETAILS KID! LONG STORY SHORT, ME AND YOUR POPS HAD A DEAL GOIN' ON WAY BACK WHEN. I KNOW _ALL_ ABOUT YA! AND THAT WOLF BROTHER OF YOURS TOO," it exclaimed, now coming _real_ close to the small beast who lowered himself then. Sora had to lean back, eyes gazing at it with either confusion or a weird sense. It wrapped its stick arm around his neck then. "SAFE TO SAY, YOUR FAMILY AND I, WE'VE GOT SOME HISTORY TOGETHER. BE HONORED!"

Sora furrowed his brows and gave an awkward grin, lifting his shoulders a bit when the triangle stayed there. "C..cool? I still don't know your name… or what you are..."

The thing stared blankly at him for a second and then blinked while drawing away from him, shaking its… head? Body? What was that, anyway? "OH! I KNEW I FORGOT SOMETHING! THE NAME'S BILL! BILL CIPHER! YOU CAN CALL ME WHATEVER YOU WANT, A DREAM SPIRIT, DREAM EATER, JUMPER, ROAMER, WHATEVER WORKS!"

It- no, he should probably start calling it a 'him' now… Sora stared at it- _him_ oddly for a second before his eyes began to dazzle in awe. "You're… a dream spirit?" Bill nodded, its- _his (He needs to get used to that…)_ eye closed and his arms on his sides, seemingly proud of that fact. A smile bloomed on the brunet's face and he bounced. "That's so cool!"

"THANK YOU, THANK YOU-"

"S-so, can you, like, give me dreams? _See_ my dreams? Can you scare away the bad dreams? Oh! Oh! You said you knew Vani, right?! Does he know _you_ too? Does he dream about me? Oooh! I bet he has good dreams about-"

"WHOA WHOA WHOA, PIPE DOWN, FOXY!" the dream spirit interrupted, floating closer and closing Sora's mouth with his cane tip. The hybrid blinked, slightly startled. "GEEZ, YOU'LL WAKE THE DEAD LIKE THAT!" Bill held his cane with both hands now, sighing with Sora just to calm him. "OKAY. TO ANSWER: YES, YES, YES, YES, NO, KINDA AND EHHHHH WELL? I'M NOT INCLINED TO ACTUALLY GIVE OUT THAT INFORMATION. YOU KNOW, DOCTOR-PATIENT CONFIDENTIALITY KIND OF THING."

Sora folded his ears back, humming as he thought that over. That seemed fair. It wouldn't be nice to snoop in someone else's dreams. Laying his lower body down on the cold glass, he gazed up patiently. "Well, what _can_ you tell me?" The scenery around them slowly began to drift back to its previous state, but the freckled boy hardly paid any attention to that, mostly focused on the talking triangle.

"HMMMM," Bill hummed, tapping his cane handle on his face while his eyeball gazed upward, staring at something unseen while he thought. "WELL, I CAN TELL YA A BIT OF YOUR FUTURE!" This caught his attention, which was slowly drifting back to the reappearing stars. Ears pointed skyward, the hybrid ebbed closer, bright and icy eyes just _begging_ for him to tell more. Bill gave a laugh, his hand on his side while he gazed at his other, his cane floating right beside him. "CAUGHT YOUR FANCY, AYE?" Sora nodded, only making Bill laugh even more. "WELL, I CAN'T GIVE OUT _TOO_ MUCH INFORMATION, BUT LET'S JUST SAY YOU'LL BE IN FOR QUITE AN EXCITING RIDE, MY FRIEND!"

"Really?" Bill nodded. Sora couldn't tell then, but the look in his eye was most definitely condescending. "Is that a good thing?"

"OF COURSE! WHY ELSE WOULD I COME? SHOW OFF _BAD NEWS?_ " He had a point. The triangle then began to turn, the clouds returning. "WELP! MY JOB HERE IS DONE. HASTA LUEGO, FOXO."

"Wait!" Sora exclaimed, standing up. Bill stopped and glanced back to the boy. "Where are you going? You're not gonna stay?"

"STAY? KID, I'VE GOT THINGS TO DO! PLACES TO BE! DREAMS TO CRASH!" he explained, turning back to Sora fully. The brunet folded his ears back, giving him a look of hurt. He had just made a new friend, and he was leaving already? How did he know if he was going to see him again? Sora looked just about ready to cry— and Bill wasn't going to have any of that. "WHOA, OKAY, OKAY! I CAN SEE THIS IS REALLY BITIN' YOUR TAIL! ERGH, WHAT? DO YA WANT SOME CANDY OR SOMETHIN'? JUST DON'T CRY OVER _THAT_. I HATE IT WHEN KIDS USE THAT FACE ON PEOPLE, UGH!"

"What's.. candy?" Sora completely dropped the face, instead adapting another face of confusion and curiosity. His head was tilted and his brows furrowed curiously. What, was it some type of flower or something? Why would he want _that?_ Bill gave him a look of bewilderment.

"WHAT? HAVE YOU BEEN LIVING UNDER A ROCK OR SOMETHING?" Sora raised his finger and opened his mouth to answer but Bill held his hand up, the other hand holding his eye while shaking himself. Was that a head shake? "DON'T ANSWER THAT. LOOK, IF YOU EVER WANNA SEE ME AGAIN, JUST CALL! I'M ONLY A DREAM AWAY, YA KNOW!"

"Oh! Okay!" Sora's mood seemed to have skyrocketed, elated that he could still have a friend. "Next time- Next time, could you show me what 'candy' is? And.. Tell me about my parents too?"

"MAYBE," replied the spirit with a teasing look in his eye. "BUT FOR NOW, I SHALL BID YOU ADIEU! AND UH, FOXY? LET'S KEEP OUR MEETING ON THE HUSH HUSH, GOT IT? WOULDN'T WANT THE BIG SURPRISE GETTING OUT, NOW WOULD WE? GREAT, UNTIL NEXT TIME, FOXY!" Without giving Sora the chance to reply, the clouds— or rather, fog at this point, began to roll in faster, covering the waving triangle until he was no longer in sight and then the fog dispersed, leaving Sora alone with the stars of his mind.

Sora stepped forward in silence. Joy seemed to simply be fluttering around in his upper chest, his heart beating gleefully. A friend. He had a friend now. Right?

"Bye," he finally replied in a whisper, now talking to just the air.

* * *

 **Ah some canon characters interaction! Might confuse you, his purpose for Sora. It's obviously not good, right? Huehuehue, well I'm not spilling anything. Later on, there will be two times you get to see Bill's POV but that's it lmao. Anyway, I'm taking questions! To pile on to the Q &A chapter I mentioned for later.**


	4. Company

Winter of 2006

(Sora's Dreamscape)

"HEY KIDDO!" greeted the triangle, startling the dreaming Sora and making him drop some star shards he had created. Spinning around, the hybrid beamed brightly, now icy blue eyes dazzling.

"Bill! You're back so soon!"

"BUT OF COURSE! ONLY FOR MY FAVORITE FOX-WOLF THING!" Bill laughed, floating closer to ruffle Sora's hair. The brunet chuckled, letting him. "SO WHAT DO WE HAVE PLANS FOR TODAY, FOXY?"

"Oh, well, I was just testing some stuff on the stars. They were so pretty, I tried to pick some but they broke..." Sora held his hands out to show the broken lights. Bill grimaced, examining them.

"EUGH, WELL THAT'S NO GOOD," he agreed. Lifting his cane to hang on his elbow, he clapped. "LOOKS LIKE WE'LL HAVE TO FIX THAT BEFORE WE START ANYTHING, HUH?" Sora looked at him with his wide eyes, curiosity making them glow.

"You can fix them?" he asked. Bill nodded, seemingly proud.

"THAT AND MORE!" The spirit let his cane float away from him a bit and then proceeded to crack his finger. "CHECK THIS OUT, FOXY!" Grabbing his cane again, Bill pointed it to the shining star pieces and then toward the sky.

The broken shards glowed brightly at that, floating into the air and then creating a mini tornado in the air. Sora watched in amazement as the pieces if stars began to join together, creating a giant, bright star.

"Whoa..!" Sora gaped. Bill's eye seemed to smile.

"THAT'S NOT ALL!" Moving his cane, the star shot across the sky above them, its pressure nearly blowing Sora away but he miraculously kept his footing. "SO? HOW'D I DO?"

" _Amazing!"_ Sora exclaimed without a moment's delay, bouncing up and down. "That was so cool! Can you teach me how to do that?"

"HMMMMM," the golden triangle hummed, tapping himself with the cane's tip, thinking. Sora waited patiently for an answer. "WEEEEEEELLL, IT _IS_ AN ANCIENT ART THAT SHOULD ONLY BE USED BY SPIRITS SUCH AS MYSELF—" Sora pouted at that. "BUUUUT WHAT'S A PUP LIKE YOU GONNA DO WITH IT? TAKE OVER THE WORLD? HAH! COME ON, I'LL TEACH YA SOME TRICKS."

The hybrid beamed and cheered, pumping his fists in the air. And so they played with the stars, Bill tutoring the young boy various ways to create and move stars and Sora squealing in delight at every new thing. Eventually, the two ended up having a _Star Fight_ — pretty much a snowball fight, but with stars. They didn't hurt. In fact, once they touched him, they exploded into sparkling dust, glitter if you will.

When they were done, they realized it was past sunrise already. Bill had bid Sora adieu again, Sora reluctantly seeing him go as he had burst into clouds, leaving Sora alone with the stars. What felt like an eternity later, it was the yelling of his brother that brought him out from his stargazing.

* * *

"How long has he been asleep for?" came the voice of a shivering Terra, entering the cave with a basket of acorns, twigs, and bark. Vanitas was laying by Sora who was sleeping and curled up in a blanket, at peace. The raven was gazing worryingly to his brother, brushing aside his hair from his face.

"He's woken up once when you were gone," Aqua answered from her water hole. It was a lot warmer in that water hall than it was in the main lake. "He might have caught a cold."

"He's not hot," Vanitas muttered, feeling Sora's forehead for the hundredth time. He shook his shoulder a bit. "Sora," he called softly, leaning into Sora's black ears. "Sora.. Wake up, Sora. It's time to wake up."

"Vanitas, don't do that; maybe he couldn't sleep last night. Just let him sleep for awhile more," the white-tailed deer suggested, unzipping his coat after setting his basket on the table he had finished crafting. It took him nearly two full seasons to craft, which was hilarious for Vanitas since it was just big enough for a lamp and one or two other things. He had made other things for the cave as well, some being there before the brother even came. The cave was nearly fully furnished, minus the so-called "chairs" humans used.

There was a white carpet woven with sheep fur, a lamp Terra had traded some self-woven baskets for from some gnomes, the nests were made from straw but they were very well made, and of course there was a basket of Sora's toys, which were mostly traded from two dogs who lived with their old human out in the woods. They were hunting dogs, but the two were as friendly as could be. They were both friends of Sora, too, by the names of Pluto and Goofy.

Vanitas scoffed at Terra, standing up. "What do you know? Sora doesn't just.. _Sleep_ for this long! It doesn't matter if he's only slept for three hours, he'd be up by now! Something is wrong with him. He- he must be sick or- or _something!_ " The parents frowned at Vanitas' growing hysteria, worry building up again. Vanitas began pacing around the room, the worry apparently eating him alive. "We need to wake him up, I-I mean what if it was a concussion? And we just... didn't notice!? What if-"

"Vanitas, sweetie, I'm sure your brother is fine," Aqua interrupted softly, trying to give her child a look of reassurance. "Worrying like you are isn't going to help anything. We're just going to have to see how he is when he wakes up, okay?"

The wolf stopped and stared at the lake woman like she was crazy until the words finally made sense in his swirling mind. Huffing, he padded back next to Sora again, laying his lower body down. "Fine," he begrudgingly agreed, arms crossed while he grumpily plopped his upper body down on the nest.

Aqua offered a soft smile, pleased he listened to her yet still concerned for her children. She exchanged glances with Terra who was staring blankly at an unrolled scroll. The finned woman tilted her head and raised a brow. "Honey? What is that?"

Terra didn't respond for a moment, staring at the scroll with astonishment. When the words finally reached his ears and processed in his mind, the deer snapped out of it, closing the scroll and holding it to his chest. The brunet turned and gave his mate a look of either complete dread or excitement— she honestly couldn't tell.

"My dad's coming for the summer."

Aqua's ear fins stood up in alarm, eyes growing wide. "Wh-what!?" he gasped. Vanitas raised his head, eyes narrowed in either suspicion or his definition of curiosity. "No way.. Really!?" Aqua lifted herself into the cave from the water. "Let me read it!"

 _("What.")_

Her mate gave it to her and his hooves did a little tap dance thing, excitement or anxiety definitely evident. Vanitas studied him, confused now. As Aqua finished reading it, she gave Terra the same look he gave her. "Oh my god."

"I know, right!?"

 _("Um? What?")_

"That's.. But we haven't seen him in what? Since we-"

"Yeah! This is.. This is..!"

 _("Guys.. What is happening?")_

"Great! Oh my goodness, the boys will get to meet their grandfather and uncle! Ohhhh, this is so exciting!"

 _("Can someone explain to me who this guy is?")_

"But wait," Terra paused, eyes growing wide in realization. "What will he think? About the boys?"

Aqua bit her lip, furrowing her brows at that. "Ohh, you're right..."

"Um? Excuse me? Yes, hello, Van here, yes?" the wolf interrupted with a loud cough, standing and walking between the adults. "Great. Now that I have your attention— WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?"

Aqua smacked his arm, giving a glare. "Language, Vanitas!" The teen winced with a wince, rubbing his arm and glaring at the fish woman.

Terra then grabbed Vanitas' shoulders and lowered his upper body, their noses touching as raw emotions of excitement and nervousness omitted from him. "My father, Eraqus, is coming this summer! He says he'll be coming every summer from now on! And this summer, not only will you meet him, _you'll also meet my little brother too!"_

Vanitas gave a look of disgust as he pushed himself away from the deer. "Okay... That's uh, fascinating. What's so exciting about this old guy again?"

Terra traded glances again with his mate until realization dawned upon them both. "Oh," he dumbly started. "Right, we... Didn't tell you the _complete_ story..."

"The complete story?" the raven echoed, stepping back. "Hold up, you said that was all of it. Met as young kids, fell in love, end of story." Aqua and Terra once again traded glances.

"Er... Well, that is what happened, but we just..." Aqua began, trying to find her words. "...Didn't add his father to the story."

"Okay, so, story time again, or..?" Terra shrugged, laying his lower body down. Vanitas crossed his arms, giving the couple a judgemental glare. Boy, was he being testy today... Terra flattened his expression. "Just sit down already."

Vanitas scoffed and obeyed grumpily.

Aqua sighed, sinking herself back into the water and turning over to view them again. "Alright... Growing up together in Gravity Falls was alright."

"'Alright?' You'd think 20 plus winters together would be more than 'alright'," muttered Terra, looking away with arms crossed. Aqua lowered her ear fins, giving her love a glare before smacking his thigh, which was lowered to the floor, lying down.

"As I was saying..." The mermaid continued with a sigh. "Eraqus... He... He's the kind of deer who's... _Old fashioned_. As in, he didn't really... approve of Terra and I. He's more of the same species courtship sort of guy."

"Are you kidding me?" Vanitas growled, his ears pointed up for a moment before they folded back. "And he wants to come _here?"_ He aggressively gestured to his slumbering brother who had stretched his body long beneath the blanket. He then threw his hands up, just about done with it all. "Great, juuust great. We gotta deal with an old fashioned geezer who's probably ancient enough to remember times when our respective tribes were still considered enemies. Pretty sure the enemies part is still a go but the majority have decided to hate each other in silence like girls do."

Aqua gave him a glare, pretty much validating what he had said. Vanitas turned his gesture to her. "Just like that."

"Okay, okay. Well, yeah, I admit, it's a bit… erm…" Terra bit his lip, rubbing his neck awkwardly. "Unorthodox of him. But, I mean, who knows? He might have had a change of heart?"

"People don't just 'have a change of heart', _Terra_ ," Vanitas practically spat out the deer's name as if it was a poison in his mouth. He crossed his arms again, glancing away. "But whatever. Fine. Just know, if that old man even _looks_ at Sora the wrong way, the claws come out."

"Vanitas, I'm sure even a deer like Eraqus knows not to judge a child just by what they are. He may be a bit cold, but he's not _ice solid,"_ Aqua defended, a bit offended herself. She lightened up a bit however, softening her gaze as a chuckle came out. "But, it's not like you could _actually—"_ She paused when Vanitas shot her a sharp stare. "Right, right. Okay."

The wolf stood himself up at that and crawled back to Sora, laying down for the third time. Still glowering at everything in sight, the raven mumbled, "Bet he's full of a load of bull shhhh..." He stopped when he saw Aqua give him another mother face, looking just about ready to slither out of that water hole if he finished the word the way she thought he would. "Shhhhhrimp. Bull shrimp. I was gonna say bull shrimp." Aqua nodded and relaxed.

Right then, Sora shifted again, groaning softly as he slowly began to wake up. His brother's attention was completely grabbed, resulting in him looming over the smaller one anxiously. Terra and Aqua were also exhibiting alarm and relief.

"Sora?" Vanitas called to him, lowering his voice. He hadn't realized he had been speaking quite loudly before.

Sora's face cringed and a moment later his eyes fluttered open, a dazzling gleam in his eyes. He glanced around after meeting Vanitas' amber gaze, seemingly forgetting where he was for a moment. A yawn was then let out. "Hi, Vani," he yawned out. Relief flooded the raven and he brought Sora into a bear hug.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again!" Vanitas yowled, squeezing the freckled boy before releasing him and promptly smacking his head. In a harsher voice, he repeated, "Don't you ever scare me like that again!"

"Owie!" Sora cried, holding his head where the older brother had smacked. "Mommy, Vani hit me!" The hybrid whined, pointing at his brother, who had growled at the term in which he called Aqua, with his other hand.

"Vanitas, seriously?" Terra furrowed his brows at him. Vanitas ignored the voice, pulling Sora to look at him again.

"It's nearly sunhigh, Sora," the raven continued, gaze softening yet it was obvious he was frustrated. He just didn't understand; sleeping in so late just wasn't like Sora, and he knew it wasn't a sickness. "Are you okay?"

The brunet blinked a couple times, searching for words. He nodded after a moment, smiling as he drew away from Vanitas. "I'm fine, Vani! I was just having a _really_ good dream and I wanted to stay in it longer. I-I didn't mean to worry you..." Now ocean blue eyes lowered guiltily, tears poking out.

Furrowing his brows, Vanitas traded glances with Terra and Aqua before looking back to Sora. "Hey, it's.. It's okay, Sora. I didn't mean to yell at you." He brushed some of Sora's hair from his eyes and lifted his head to look at him. Vanitas mustered a soft smile. "It's okay, got it?"

Sora grinned gently in return and he nodded. "Okay."

* * *

Summer of 2007

"Make sure to clean up your toys after you finish playing with them, okay, Sora? I'm seeing a big mess around here," Terra told Sora, giving him a soft look. Sora squeaked his chew toy in his mouth once and nodded.

"O'ay 'addy!" he replied, mouth still full of squeaky bone. He threw it in the air afterwards, then bouncing after it. Terra rolled his eyes teasingly, amused by his son's antics. He then went on to collect his toys into his basket anyway, since Sora obviously wasn't going to pick them up himself.

"Keep this place clean, alright? Your grandfather's going to be here any day now, and I wouldn't want-"

"HE'S HERE!" came the sudden voice of Aqua as she practically jumped out of her water hole, making Terra Drop the basket of toys in surprise. "He's right outside! Terra, go, go, go! Vanitas and Sora will finish picking up the mess!"

Terra nodded and hurriedly galloped out of the living room cave and out to the waterfall area. Sora began to pick up his toys while Aqua called for Vanitas to come and help.

Mid-clean up, they all paused when they heard voices grow louder and closer. In a frenzy, Vanitas ushered Sora to take the basket of toys into their room.

"...tell you more about it later," came the old voice of whom Vanitas assumed to be Eraqus. Terra and Eraqus then entered, with two other smaller beings following.

Vanitas narrowed his eyes at the strangers. The deer he deemed as Eraqus was an older man. His fur was grey with a black back and white underbelly. His hair was black and curly, but it was greying as well. He wore a white robe-like thing, a satchel around his shoulder. Vanitas couldn't help but stare at his scars and intimidating antlers— Eraqus' dark eyes met his for a moment before Vanitas blinked and looked away.

He looked at the other two by him. One— a another deer, and the other— some sort of bird..? The deer was _obviously_ Eraqus' son, if the deer part didn't spell it out already. He was the spitting image of Eraqus, black curly hair, brownish-grey fur, stubbing antlers, smokey blue eyes. Vanitas could only guess that's what Eraqus had looked like as a faun.

The bird, though... Looked no older than Sora. His hair was blond and spiked and his eyes were a crystal blue, stunning to look at. His arms were pale brown wings and his legs were those of birds. A mint green piece of clothing was wrapped around his waist, little yellow suns patterning it. Scars riddled the boy's body. The small bird was clutching onto Eraqus' hand like his life depended on it...

"Dad, this is Vanitas," Terra's voice snapped the wolf out of his thoughts. "And... Er, where's Sora?"

"He's.. In our room," Vanitas answered him, pointing his chin toward the other cave room. As if on cue, out poked Sora's head, staring at the group of strangers with shy eyes.

Terra chuckled at the sight. "It's okay, Sora. Look, it's your grandfather and uncle." Slowly, Sora stepped out, his beaten and worn out bear doll in his arms. Timidly, he smiled and neared before quickly running underneath Terra. "Ah- Sora, it's _okay._ They're not gonna hurt you."

Vanitas could see the blond bird staring at Sora with those wide owl-like eyes. The boy noticed him staring and instantly hid behind Eraqus. "Two shy butterflies, huh?" Vanitas muttered. Aqua giggled at the scene, interested by the blond as well.

Eraqus gave a smile to the boys. "It seems proper introductions are in order." He glanced to his own son and gestured to the bird boy, giving his wing for the other to hold. Eraqus then turned to the wolf brothers, laying his lower body down so that his height wouldn't seem too intimidating.

"Hello, little one," he began again, smiling gently. "I am Eraqus, and these are my sons, Erastus and Ventus." He gestured to the other deer and then to the bird boy. Erastus waved awkwardly as he was introduced.

"Wait, 'sons'?" Vanitas furrowed his brows, looking up to Terra. "I thought you said there was only one?"

Terra gave him a look before sighing. "We'll all talk about it later, Van." Ushering Sora out from under him, he lowered himself as well. "Sora, why don't you go show Erastus and Ventus your toys? Vanitas will play with you too." The smaller brunet gave a brighter smile and nodded, padding over to the two still a bit timid.

Vanitas groaned at the deer. "Augh, seriously?" Terra nodded and pointed his chin to their room. The raven's groan only grew louder as he followed his suddenly bubbly younger brother to their room.

Before he went into the room, he stopped by the wall, out of sight of the grownups after hearing them strike up a conversation again.

"The little one, Sora, is it? He's a shy one, isn't he?" Eraqus commented after a while.

"He's not usually like that," explained Aqua. "He's actually quite outgoing. I don't know what's the matter with him."

"He's been... off, lately," Terra added, rubbing his cheek. Why were they talking about their problems with _him?_ The brunet cleared his throat and shook his head. "But that's for another time. How have you been, Dad?"

Eraqus grinned. "I've been well. How have you been faring?"

Aqua held her head up with her hand, a gentle smile blessing her lips. "Well, as a whole, we've been doing okay."

"Ah, and Aqua, my dear, it's very nice to see you again." Eraqus placed his satchel on the coat hanger by the cave entrance before he went over to the water hole. Laying down again, he gently embraced her, tapping their cheeks with each other. Aqua was taken aback by this but was very pleased anyway. "I must.. apologize for my behaviour all those years ago, my children. My way of thinking was very warped and only recently have I realized my mistake."

"Eraqus, who is that boy?" Aqua inquired as Eraqus shifted aside on the carpet to leave space for Terra to lay down.

The older deer sighed, closing his eyes. "His name is Ventus. Erastus and I found him in the forest one day... strung up by the neck. He barely made it, but as you can see..."

Aqua covered her mouth at that, appalled. "That's terrible!"

"Who would do such a thing?" Terra agreed, staring with wide eyes, equally disturbed.

Eraqus nodded, rubbing his chin. "Yes... I fear it may have been another harpy who had done it. They're known to punish wrongful beings in my forest, yet I've never heard a punishment fall on another harpy... That's why I very truly suspect a human had done it."

"A harpy?" Terra echoed, concern filling his eyes. "Isn't-"

Eraqus held his hand up, stopping his son. "He's lost his voice; he is no threat to us. I am merely making assumptions as to what happened to him, Terra. Ventus has been with us for nearly a year and he has done nothing but love us."

"You really have changed..." Aqua breathlessly noted, blinking her aquatic eyes with astonishment. Eraqus nodded solemnly.

"Though I have only been with Ventus for three seasons, he has touched my heart and I can only imagine how you must feel about your family here."

"Dad, I.. I don't know what to say. I'm so happy that you- finally- I mean, you see, I.." Terra seemed utterly flabbergasted, honestly fumbling over his words. His father chuckled at him and nodded, understanding him.

"I'm deeply sorry, my children. It was not my say whom you should love— it's obvious not even the earth can shake a love so strong." As he spoke, Aqua and Terra's hands became intertwined. They gazed into each other's eyes lovingly, bright smiles gracing their lips. It was silent for a moment before Terra became aware of Eraqus' proud stare.

Clearing his throat, his cheeks burning softly, Terra rubbed his neck. "Ahah, erm, yes, er, we- we should show you around the cave, then... Eheh. Aqua will, uh, meet us in the other rooms." The other two chuckled in amusement at their local brunet deer become flustered.

"Yes, and I must say, a connection to the caves from the lake— it's quite interesting! You must tell me more about it." Eraqus stood along with Terra.

"Oh, of course, Eraqus! We'll tell you all about it," the blue haired woman giggled. "But I believe you two have a lot to catch up on. I'm going to check up on the boys."

"Alright, darling."

Vanitas left after she went underwater, leaving to his room where the three boys were.

* * *

 **So, Erastus is pretty much young eraqus from kh3 trailer. Yeah, he and Young Xehanort are their own characters- YMX being "Xavier" later in the story (Xavier also being a character of Loyxlties mentioned in the A/N of Ch1 yeah) Sorry I've been speeding the story along a bit. I've got one more chapter to do of their "before 2012" years and** ** _then_** **I'll get to 2012, in which chapters will be written normally and in fractions, paralleling Gravity Falls the cartoon and its episodes.**


	5. Sleepwalkers

**POSSIBLE TRIGGER WARNINGS TOWARD THE END:** **Blood, fire/burning, death (For those who are squimish, when the bold dialogue starts, just know it's a really bad nightmare ok)**

* * *

Summer 2009

Sora hardly ever really dreamt anymore. Whenever he did, it was because Bill wasn't there. But his actual dreams were dark. Sora hated when he dreamt because of it. Sometimes Bill wouldn't show up for days, leaving Sora alone with the darkness of his mind.

Bill knew a lot, Sora saw, about his family. He learned that his father was a master Bowsman and his mother was a seamstress of the clan. She and a few other females had sewn all the clothes that the men, women, and children of the clan wore. One night, Bill had kept Sora sleeping until Sunhigh talking and talking about his parents and even about Terra and Aqua's family.

He didn't like Eraqus because of this.

But he did like Erastus and Ventus. They were his play buddies during the summer, which was his favorite season despite the displeasing arrival of "Grandpa" Eraqus. Sora could tell Vanitas was happy with the arrangement since he didn't have to play with Sora all the time then; he only had to watch over them and that was okay with Vanitas. Not that Sora knew how he felt, it was just that Vanitas never complained about it otherwise so he assumed he was fine with how things were.

Sora was generally okay with how things were in his life. He had new friends in the forest too! He had, of course, the two dogs from the Old man's home, Pluto and Goofy. He had the two ducks from the lake, Donald and Daisy. There were the mice who lived in the cave as well, the leader of the mice horde, Mickey and his mate Minnie. He was also friends with two chipmunks by the names of Chip and Dale too! He had so many friends of the woods and Sora loved it. Yeah, knowledge-wise, the majority of them were wiser than him, but they all held great affection for each other.

And of course, how could Sora forget Bill? He was probably one of his best friends, but no one knew that. Bill wanted him to keep their friendship a secret from everyone else. Sora didn't understand why, but he never asked any further.

* * *

"Bill!" Sora called out, staring into the gold and red void before him. "Bill, please! Come out! I-I don't like it when you're gone... It's scary!"

The void ripped the sky, shattering it with great force and sending Sora flying back. A scream ripped through his throat as he was tossed away like some doll. Before he got too far, his frantic screaming was cut short when a hand grabbed his lower body's scruff.

"WHOA, THERE, FOXO!" Bill's loud voice exclaimed. Sora looked back with relieved and teary eyes. The giant triangle's eye looked back to the gaping crack in the sky and he whistled. "WOWIE, WHAT HAPPENED HERE? WHAT DID YOU DO, FOXY?"

Tears bubbled up in the hybrid's eyes at that. "I-I didn't do anything!"

"NO WORRIES. IT'S NOTHING GOOD OL' BILL CAN'T SOLVE!" With that, the dream jumper snapped his finger and the world stopped around them. Sora fell limp in Bill's hold, relief flowing through him.

"You're a lifesaver..." Sora sighed as Bill set him down before shrinking in size, back to the small triangle Sora had grown to know.

Bill continued to stare at the broken sky, his eye narrowed before Sora's words processed. "AH! BUT, WHY, OF COURSE, FOXY!" Sora laid down solemnly then after sparing a quick smile. Bill tilted his frame, gazing at Sora curiously. "WHAT'S EATIN' YA, KID?"

"You... You haven't... Been here in a long time, Bill," the brunet explained softly. "And my dreams... they're... bad without you."

The triangle gave him a perplexed gaze, hands on his hips before he crossed them then. "LISTEN, FOXY, YA GOTTA LEARN TO HOLD YOUR OWN SOMETIMES. I'M NOT GONNA BE HERE 24/7, YA KNOW?" He drew closer. "REMEMBER? I'VE GOT THINGS TO DO, PLACES TO GO, DREAMS TO CRASH! IT'S BEEN FUN HERE, _TRUST_ ME! BUT—" He stopped short, seeing Sora's torn face. For a split second, Sora could have sworn his eye grinned before a look of concern or annoyance replaced it. "NOT THE LOOK AGAIN, UGH, LOOK KID, I—" Bill stopped again, putting his hand on his eye, shaking himself. "FINE! BUT JUST A FEW MORE NIGHTS! THEN YOU GOTTA LEARN TO BE ON YOUR OWN FOR A WHILE. AT LEAST FOR THE NIGHTS I'M GONE!"

Sora's expression morphed to that of excitement, nodding with satisfaction. Bill grunted and lowered himself to sit on the floor. "SO WHAT'D'YA WANNA DO TODAY?"

"Can you tell me about my parents?" Sora quickly said, sitting up abruptly, determination burning in his icy eyes. "Please!"

Bill narrowed his eye at him before sighing and nodding. "FINE, FINE!" Sora cheered happily at that, scooting himself closer. Bill went on, explaining to Sora about his parents—

His father was the Alpha wolf of the clan whose name was Blacksun. He was the most skilled bowsman in all the forest. No beast dared to cross his line; even the Manotaurs respected him! Every hunt was lead or controlled by him as well.

His mother, on the other hand, Tori, wasn't very skilled at anything other than sewing clothes. She couldn't cook, couldn't hunt, couldn't dance... She could sing, though. As Bill was speaking, Sora's heart tugged at him, a faint song echoing in the back of his mind. Bill paused at the music, his eye smiling strangely. The music stopped then— wait, what had been playing? Sora began to close his eyes, black sleep suddenly taking him.

"DON'T WORRY, KID, I'LL TAKE THE REIGNS FOR A BIT!" Everything when black

Then he was viciously ripped out of his sleep.

* * *

Vanitas groaned as he heard the nest beside him rustle. Blinking his eyes open, he saw the faint figure of Sora leaving their room. Brows furrowed in concern as he pushed himself up. The raven turned his head to see Erastus and Ventus still sleeping peacefully, undisturbed by the hybrid's movement. Turning back to the mini cave's entrance, golden eyes narrowed as he pushed himself up, softly following his brother out of the cave.

Turning the corner, he froze when he saw the large figure of either Eraqus or Terra and he held his breath, not daring to move. After a moment, he realized he— Eraqus— was asleep. Sighing softly, Vanitas slowly made his way out of the main living cave. As soon as he left the cave, his pace quickened as he searched for his brother. Sora must have extremely soft steps to have just straight up walk past a sleeping Eraqus... Where was he _going?_

"Sora?" Vanitas whispered when he saw Sora's figure heading toward the waterfall, already disappearing around the corner of the hidden hole. Why wasn't he going the back way? Gritting his teeth with a growl, Vanitas hurried toward the boy but stopped when he heard a familiar squeaking.

"Vanitas!" came the soft squeak of Mickey. Vanitas turned around, seeing the small mouse on a rock. "What are you doing up so late?"

Vanitas had to hold himself back from rolling his eyes. This place was just _crawling_ with protective eyes, wasn't it? Whatever. Mickey could be of use to him. "Sora. Did you see him? He just got up and left."

Mickey bounced in alarm. "Sora? Gosh, he _has_ been acting strange lately..." The little "king" glanced away and Vanitas narrowed his eyes with a nod.

"This is getting out of hand," Vanitas growled. "Can you get word to the dogs and the others to look for Sora? I'm going to follow him."

Mickey nodded. "Will do!" With that, Mickey left and Vanitas went off to follow Sora, racing to find him. His scent was strong in the air. He hasn't gone that far, good.

Tracking his scent, Vanitas found Sora in no time but he didn't interact with him just yet. Where was he going? The raven noticed the way Sora was walking— it was like he was a zombie, step after slow, stumbling step. Was he sleepwalking?

Finally, Sora stopped walking and Vanitas thought he noticed him or he snapped out of it or something, but he didn't. The brunet crouched down toward a burrow, reaching into it and taking something out that was wrapped in a brown hide. Vanitas' ears shot up when Sora put it down and began to unwrap it.

"SORA!" Vanitas yowled, rushing to Sora and shoving him aside. Sora gave a yelp as he fell in the dirt, snapping out of it. The wolf began to unwrap whatever it was— his beating heart stopped and froze solid. It was a wooden bow. His _father's_ bow. The aged weapon's wood was peeling at the ends, but the same carved details of the bow were still as beautiful as Vanitas had remembered.

How did Sora know where this was? Vanitas hid it the night he and Sora returned to the Clan only to find it empty! And Sora just... found it without any trouble— he went _directly_ to it!? How did—

"Va-Vani?" whispered the younger brother, snapping Vanitas out of his thoughts.

Turning toward the boy, Vanitas hissed as he grabbed the hybrid's arm and dragged him up to his paws, "How did you find this?!" Sora flinched, his ears folded back and eyes wide. Vanitas didn't hold back, holding the large bow toward his brother. Golden eyes shone brightly into glowing green eyes, the moon's soft light reflecting off them. "Answer me, Sora! How did you know this was here!?"

"I-I—"

"What's wrong with you, Sora?!" the raven then yelled, interrupting him. Sora winced again, giving his brother a look that should have snapped Vanitas out of his rage but it didn't which made the younger brother's heart collapse. "You've been acting like a weirdo for so long, Sora. What is the matter?! Why won't you tell us?! And don't you freaking _dare_ try to pass this off as "a nice dream", that crap won't work anymore! The truth, Sora! Tell me the truth!"

"...I-I, I don't… know how I…" his voice was but a whisper. Tears poked from his eyes as he glanced around, trying to figure out where he was, how he got here and what had even happened. He looked lost, but Vanitas didn't notice- or rather, _refused_ to notice. "He… Bill..."

Vanitas grabbed his cheeks and forced him to look at him. "Bill? Who is Bill? Come on, Sora, tell me the truth! Is this some sort of sick joke!? Some little game!?"

The youth in question swallowed shaking his head while yelling, "No!" His tears began to fall drop after drop down his cheeks.

Vanitas shook Sora's head a bit, his hold on his cheeks firming. "Then tell me, Sora! What's so difficult about it!? Just spit it out already!" The raven's blood was boiling, anger seething through him. His little brother was quivering in fear, scared that he might hurt him.

"Va-Vani, I-I don't…" he whispered shakily, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "I-I can't remember, I- Bi—"

"'Can't remember'?! What do you mean, you can't remember?! I watched you the entire time, Sora! You went from the cave straight to this place!" His grip on the boy's arm tightened, his claws digging into his skin and Sora let out a yelp, struggling against his grip. "Sora, I swear to—"

"Vani, y-you're hurting me!" cried the brunet, ripping his arm from Vanitas' hold. The wolf gasped, watching his brother stumble away from him, holding his arm and weeping. Vanitas stared at him in dumb astonishment until he finally tore his eyes away to look at his left hand. His eyes widened at the dark sight of red staining his claws, a gasp leaving he gazed up, the raven saw his brother hunched over with his back facing him, holding his reddening arm and whimpering.

Did he… really just hurt his brother? Over a stupid bow? Disgust and Horror struck his heart and he dropped the bow on the ground. "Oh my.. S-Sora, I-I… I didn't mean t'…" he reached for Sora's arm and flinched when Sora moved away, grunting in frustration.

"I said I can't remember! I _told_ you, I can't remember!" the smaller hybrid screamed, not even glancing back to look at him. "I d-don't know what that thing is! I-I don't know how I got here! I don't- I don't even know where _here is!_ What- what more do you want fr-from me!?"

Guilt built up in Vanitas as he heard the frustration and pain in his brother's voice. A cold breeze passed through for a moment, ruffling Vanitas' fur and sending a chill up his spine, goosebumps rippling across his skin. Shaking himself, he once again focused his attention on his brother.

Staring at the partially wrapped bow, Vanitas lowered himself, dropping the bow and hesitantly wrapping the brown hide around Sora. The brunet's shaking shoulders tensed and he finally glanced behind himself. Vanitas gave him a soft look but he didn't smile— his mouth was quivering and Sora could see his eyes glistening sadly. Slowly and gently, Vanitas pulled him up, rising with him before he held Sora close.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, Sora. I... I shouldn't have..." Vanitas whispered as Sora hesitantly nuzzled his face into the older teen's black shirt. He didn't reply. Biting his lip and folding his ears back, the wolf went on. "C-come on, let's.. let's go home and.. and clean up that scratch."

"You hurt me, Vani..." Sora muttered softly with such a fragile voice. Vanitas swallowed and closed his eyes, bowing his head down. He knew he probably hurt him in more than one way.

"I... I know." He left the bow behind.

* * *

Upon arriving home, everyone still asleep, Vanitas tried to clean Sora's wound in the lake, becoming now too drowsy to remember that Aqua was there underneath the surface, always keeping watch. She came only after Vanitas finished cleaning Sora off, yelling and panicking over the blood that she knew was Sora's. And lucky them, she already alerted Terra and Eraqus. Wonderful.

Vanitas explained that Sora was sleepwalking and fell into some brambles. He was surprised to see Sora back this up, albeit hesitantly. But hey, it wasn't a _complete_ lie, right?

Lo and behold, in came Terra, Eraqus apparently staying in the cave to keep his eye on the other two. Terra had brought the first Aid-kid that Vanitas may or may not have stolen from some human campers a few moons back. Terra examined Sora's wound, obviously not believing their tale of "falling in some brambles" but he made it clear that he'd question them later, or at least Vanitas. The wolf dreaded that.

As they returned home, Eraqus spotted the brown hide around Sora and immediately questioned it. Sora simply glared— or... rather, he pouted angrily at the elder while Vanitas hastily ushered his brother back to the room after seeing the heads of Erastus and Ventus dodge back from the corner. When Sora had left, the raven began to slowly explain what really happened, his voice soft and fragile. Terra, Aqua, and Eraqus hardly spoke during it, concern vivid in their eyes. That bothered Vanitas. A lot. After he finished, they all remained silent before dismissing Vanitas to his room. He didn't argue.

* * *

Golden irises opened wide, gazing up at a bright full moon. It was large, larger than he's ever seen it before. He felt it was like a giant eyeball, staring at him, analyzing his every move. The black wolf simply stared back at the moon before he heard a howl echo across the sky.

Turning around, the canine raised his ears curiously before folding them back. Two animals stood before him; one a black wolf, mighty and intimidating, the other a red fox, sleek and delicate. Their eyes glowed a ghostly white.

This was how Vanitas always dreamt; he was never _him_. He was always a beast of the moon, a wolf. A _real_ wolf. Not just some half breed of "human" and beast. And his parents and Sora, they were like that too. Oh, if only they had born the way the normal wolf born...

Vanitas padding quick and close to his parents, nuzzling them with his muzzle. They never spoke to him, but that was okay. What more could be said? Besides, Vanitas could distinguish everything they needed to say just by their body language and other inhuman noises. The three stood cuddling for a moment longer before Vanitas blinked, drawing away.

"Where's Sora?" he inquired. Sora was usually with him, even in his dreams. His father, Blacksun, straightened himself at that, not looking to Vanitas. He seemed tense... Disappointed. In who? Vanitas? Blacksun simply shook his head, closing his eyes. Vanitas gaze a conflicted stare, tilting his head some. "Dad? Mom? Where's Sora?"

 **"What have you done?"** Vanitas flinched, stepping back in astonishment. Did.. Did Blacksun just speak?

"Wh-what?"

 **"What have you done to our son!?"** That was Tori? Vanitas felt his heart begin to pound, anxiety bubbling up, threatening to suffocate the young wolf.

"N-No, I- I didn't mean to hurt him! He was just-"

 **"He's our little boy! He's too young! He didn't know!"**

"I-I know! I just- I was so-"

 **"** _ **Excuses!**_ **Nothing gives you the right to hurt him!"**

Their voices were echoing like some sort of monster in his head. The forest scenery around them changed suddenly and- oh, Gosh, the forest was on fire! Vanitas could feel the heat radiating around him, crawling closer and closer, hotter and hotter. His pelt suddenly felt too big for him- he thought it would slip off him. "No-" he kept repeating, answering the voices that continued to accuse him of harming his own brother. "I didn't mean it!"

The voices changed. **"Liar! Liar! Liar! Abuser! Abuser! Abuser! Crazy! Crazy! Crazy! Cruel! Cruel! Cruel!"**

Vanitas backed away, his head hunched lower and his tail between his legs fearfully. His head throbbed as he continued to shake it and exclaim, "No! You're wrong! I never meant to hurt him! I never meant any wrong!"

Then it stopped. The fire stopped closing in on the family, and Blacksun and Tori remained still, staring blankly at Vanitas like statues. His fast breathing stopped as well, realizing that everything stopped. Slowly, the black wolf began to turn, wide eyes quivering with tears, fearful of what he might see.

There, he saw Sora— the normal Sora— hanging by his hind leg in a bear trap that was attached to a tree, an arrow struck through his chest. Vanitas' eyes widened even more, if that were possible, tears pouring over and down his now pale skin. "Sora..?" he whispered. The raven stepped back, appalled when the dead body shifted, lifting his head up to look to Vanitas with smokey grey eyes.

 **"You hurt me, Vani."**

The wolf shook his head, stepping away from Sora. "N-No, I didn't mean that, I- S-Sora, pl-please, I—"

 **"You could have saved us, Vanitas,"** came the voices of his parents. Vanitas turned, gaping in horror at his parents' true forms, standing yet dead, black holes in their chests. **"We could have survived."**

The horrorstruck boy caved in on himself, holding his chest as the two adults began to draw close. "No! No! Stop it! Stop!" he cried, holding his head while shaking it. "Get away from me!" He began to run the opposite way but froze when he saw Sora again.

His neck seemed to be broken, now that Vanitas was so close. **"Help me..."** Sora reached for him slowly but the raven smacked his hand away.

"Get away!" he shrieked. He ran again, but was blocked by flames. "No!" Spinning around, the deceased parents continued to draw closer. "No! Please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Tears poured down his face like a waterfall. Why was this happening!? A sob choked out from him and he let himself collapse, eyes shut tight while he nearly began to tear his hair out. "Make it stop! Please! Just stop!"

They advanced on him still, their voices continuing to accuse him and hurt him. Soon the flames began to move again. Sora was swallowed by the flames, his hollow sobs echoing through the air. There was only a small area left. Vanitas was trapped. The flames grew evermore. He was consumed in them with his parents, his scream ripping through the bloody sky.

 **"PAWS OFF MY TOY, KID."** Laughter echoed in his mind.

That wasn't his voice.

* * *

 **Alrighty, that went a bit bumpy but I finally got this chapter out of the way- now onto the main dish, amiright?**

 **Next up: Summer of 2012**


	6. Aloha! Welcome to Gravity Falls!

Summer of 2012

Riku grunted as the car hit yet another hole in the road, making his phone slip from his hand and onto Kairi's lap. She jolted awake at that, quickly glancing around in surprise. "Wha-? Huh?" Riku gritted his teeth, grabbing his phone from her quickly.

"Can you seriously chill with the pits, Xavier?" Riku huffed, looking back to his phone.

"Can't blame me for poorly made roads, Riku," came the bored reply of his cousin. That was the fifth bump in the road since they left Rent-A-Car. His cousin glanced back once as he replied before giving a double take. "Is that your phone? Your parents said no electronics on the trip."

"They don't know." Riku simply shrugged, shuffling through his jacket's pocket for his earphones. Plugging them into his phone, he then put both buds into his ear, tuning his cousin and his bad music taste out. Xavier sighed, rolling his eyes before raising the volume of the radio. The music playing was _Hotel California_.

Naminé, sitting on the other side of her twin Kairi, was doodling small birds in silence. There was a large pencil mark across the page from the bump, but she didn't seem to care since it was just a doodle page. The blonde barely paid any mind to the other three in the car, knowing Riku was just upset because Xavier filled the passenger seat with his own bags. Still, it was amusing to see the usually mellow teen cranky.

Naminé glanced to her sister, who was now wide awake and leaning forward, staring out Riku's window. "Where did they say he lived?" she inquired after a while.

"He owns a cabin in the woods, about a mile or two from town."

"Uhuh. Remind me again who he is to any of us?"

"He's-" Xavier paused, thinking. He never really thought about it, only just accepting that he was family. He then squinted as he continued, "He's our grrrreat great great step-granduncle twice removed?"

"You don't sound so sure about that, Xavier." Riku added, unplugging one of his earbuds from his ear. Okay, Xavier totally pulled that out of his butt, didn't he? "And there's no way that man is a 'great times 3'."

"Well, if you hadn't noticed," Xavier sighed, glancing back once. "Our family is a bit complex and confused at the moment so cut me some slack." The two step-siblings rolled their eyes, Kairi crossing her arms.

"Tell me about it," she mumbled, giving Riku a glance. He smirked at her at that, nudging her with his elbow as she giggled. The driver shook his head dismissively at their antics, then nearing a family diner.

"Oi, who's hungry?"

"Oh, me!" all three backseat passengers chanted, Naminé's voice quieter than the other two's yet still noticeable. Xavier gave a hum of amusement, driving into the parking lot of the diner. Kairi was bouncing in her seat energetically, hyped to finally get some food. "I haven't ate anything since we got out of the airport! Eh-" she paused, looking at the giant sign introducing the restaurant. "Greasy's? Er, doesn't… sound very healthy."

"Kairi, we're in North America, what restaurant, fast or diner, serves _healthy_ food?" Riku huffed, unbuckling as Xavier reversed into a parking spot. Kairi and Naminé did the same, the latter of the twins closing her sketchbook and staring at it, debating whether or not she should take it in with her. Seeing Riku and Kairi already scooting out from the car, she made a hasty choice and just brought it with.

Walking into the diner's doors, Kairi was still going on as Riku begrudgingly listened,"Okay, fair point, but there's _gotta_ be somewhere that serves- Oh my goodness, isn't this the cutest little country diner? Look, the tables are so-" And so she was off and also the first of them to take a booth. Riku didn't believe her for a second that she didn't at least eat _something_ on the way here; she was bouncing off the walls, hyper and talkative. She only got that way when she was either A) excited or B) on a sugarhigh. The two reasons were pretty much always one in the same.

The three took their seats with her, watching as a waitress approached and gave them some menus with a bright greeting. "Howdy!" she cheered, getting her notepad out already. "You're a new face! Can I get y'all something to drink?"

Riku scrunched his nose, turning his face so she wouldn't see. God, she smelled like rancid onions. Inhaling, he turned back, covering his nose nonchalantly. The waitress didn't seem to notice as Xavier told her what drink he wanted. Kairi ordered for herself and Naminé as well, knowing her sister; pepsi for the redhead and iced tea for the blonde. As far as Riku's known the two, they've always got the same beverages wherever they went. When the strange waitress with the one opened eye looked to him for what he wanted, he simply went with water.

As they waited for their drinks, the group of four made small chatter, commenting on the pictures of the menu, the small decor of the restaurant, etcetera. In no time, their drinks came and they were ready to order. Xavier told them to eat lightly since they plan on eating at their Great Grand Uncle's when they get there, so he ordered a stack of pancakes with a side of bacon for all of them to share. Riku gave him a judgemental stare, crossing his arms after giving the menus back.

Xavier returned the stare while shrugging. "What? I heard the pancakes here are _huge_. It should be more than enough to satisfy your appetites." Riku just rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone again. As soon as he did so, however, his cousin pulled the phone out of his hands. "No electronics, remember? This is supposed to be a family trip."

"Wh- hey, oh, come on, man! What else is there to do in this place then?" Riku grumpily growled.

"Oh, good grief, Riku. Quit being such a princess," Xavier huffed, running his hand through his snow hair in frustration. Kairi giggled at the scene while Naminé continued to draw casually, as if everything that was being said went through one ear and out the other. The eldest of the four gestured to the shy blonde. "See? Naminé didn't bring her phone and she's doing fine without it. Right, Nami?"

The blonde looked up as she heard her name, taking her earbud out from behind her hair. "What?" Kairi and Riku cracked up at this while Xavier sighed, shaking his head in defeat.

"I can't believe you guys."

"Well—" Riku paused as he caught a hooded figure with a girl outside the front door of the diner. He gasped along with the other four, Xavier turning to look back. The guy actually had _punched the window_ out just to open it from the inside. Riku gave the most incredulous look as he watched him let his girl companion inside. She seemed giddy about something? The four at the table exchanged their looks of confusion and alarm. "What the hell?"

"Is… what?" Xavier did a double take on the two. Were they _dating?_

"I… Uh… Well, uh, gee, this place seems.. pretty okay with it, I guess..?" Riku couldn't have looked more surprised and weirded out. "I hope the rest of the town isn't _that_ lolo.."

Kairi on the other hand, she seemed to be holding back her laughter in which she let loose and after having calmed down, she finally added, "I like this place."

"Of course you do," the two albinos of the group said in unison as Naminé quietly giggled.

* * *

"There's gonna be what coming?"

"New humans at the cabin down by the dirt path. Er, just for the whole of green-leaf, apparently," Sora repeated, crossing his arms and sitting down next to his previously napping brother. "That's just what Goofy and Mickey said, at least. I'm actually curious what they look li-"

"Curiosity killed the cat, Sora."

"Yes, but you forget; _I'm_ a _folf!"_

Vanitas stood himself up, yawning as he stretched. "Ah-" he yawned out. "Yes, how could I forget the one who _hates water, hisses at shaking brambles,_ and _pounces at birds for fun_ is actually the most canine one of us all, right?" Sora gave a glare. "You're not going near that house until they all leave, alright? Goofy, Pluto, and Max can meet you at Big Rock for your playdates. That's final." Sora gave a moan of frustration, flopping himself onto his side as if his brother's orders had physically hurt him.

"But Vaaani!"

"I said no! Can't you just do as you're told?" Vanitas narrowed his golden eyes at him, giving him a look that said he meant it. Lowering himself again, preparing to return to his nap under the warm sun, he continued, "Now- er, go play with Erastus and Ventus or something. Let me take a nap for once- and _don't_ go near that house! If I find out you did, I'll keep you under cave arrest for the whole of green-leaf. All three moons!" Sora whined loudly at that.

"No fair! You can't ground m-" Vanitas shot him another sharp glare, shutting him up and dismissing him. "Eep!" He ran off to find his two uncles, which he found in no time seeing as they were still where he left them— by the stream, playing with stones and frogs. "Hey, you guys!" he called out, nearing them.

The two had grown since the first time they met all those winters ago. Erastus still had the same glossy black hair in a tie, just like his father, but his stubs had grown to looking like baby twigs. They were nowhere near Eraqus' or Terra's, but Erastus seemed pretty proud by them. His attire pretty much stayed the same, pastel colored sweaters and ponchos all around. He always wore sweaters every green-leaf; Sora couldn't remember ever seeing him without something hot on in this hot weather. Of course, there was that one green-leaf where he totally tried to go goth or emo or whatever that phase was, but the next green-leaf, he was the same normal, pastel loving dork he met so long ago.

Then there was Ventus. He didn't change all that much. He guessed it was because he was some sort of immortal-like creature or something? He wasn't too knowledgeable on the details but he knew Ventus was different than most harpies. He learned in the recent years that Ventus had this sort of _savage mode._ According to Eraqus, they found out Ventus was tortured by his own kind because he was different.

Now they learned, there were certain things that triggered him, causing him to react negatively. And by negatively, he meant the blond's blue eyes fills the whites of them and he'll try to screech but with no voice, he's resorted to just making loud noises with items to try and keep the others away from him. He'd keep himself bundled up in a corner for about half of sunrise. Aqua later tried to make Ventus feel better by knitting up a green shawl for him, since he was always shirtless and exposed. Could you blame him though? Wings the size of his could never fit through the holes of a regular shirt. No, they tried _that_ already. They plucked some feathers out by accident and that's how they found out about his triggers. At least he was comforted by Aqua's Homemade shawl.

Both adoptive brothers looked back, curious to see who called them before smiles lit up their faces. "Hey, Sora, you're back so soon? What was it that Mickey had to tell you?"

"Right, about that-"

"It's nothing bad, is it?" Erastus tilted his head, frowning for a moment in concern. Sora shook his head quickly.

"No, no! It's- well, erm.. maybe it's-" The hybrid paused to consider his words. When he found them, he bounced quickly before laying with the two. "Okay! Okay! Mickey said Pluto mentioned that there's gonna be new humans at the cabin by the dirt path! They're apparently staying for the whole of green-leaf too, and I-"

"Wanna spy on them and check them out?"

"Yes! But the only thing is-"

"Vanitas says no cabin, huh?"

"Uhuh, uhuh! But-"

"You're gonna check it out anyway.

"Yeah, how'd you-"

"You forget I live with Ventus. You two are nearly the same so reading you is _super_ easy compared to Ventus. Sorry, bud." Erastus nodded to the bird. Ventus shook his head with a smile, saying he didn't take offense at all. It was the truth, after all— and a funny truth at that.

"Riiiight." A pause. "So you wa-"

"Wanna check it out anyway? Heck yeah."

"Stop that," Sora squinted, giving a pout as Erastus began laughing, amused by his nephew. Ventus made breathy squeaking noises that _sounded_ like they could be laughter but obviously weren't. Sora shook his head, standing up and extending his hand to them. "Okay, okay! So, yeah? You wanna come and.. _spy?"_

"Heck yeah! You wanna come, Ven?" Erastus stumbled up onto his hooves and glanced at Ventus, who nodded with a smile.

The brunet grinned and bounced excitedly. "Great! C'mon, let's go, let's go, let's go!"

"Alright! Alright!"

* * *

"Alright, here we are." Xavier pulled into the dirt area in front of the lone cabin. Parking the car, the four unbuckled and promptly exited the vehicle. Naminé squeaked when the excited sound of barking alerted them to two dogs, running to them at top speed. Naminé jumped back into the car in alarm while Kairi and Riku acted as barriers— until they realized the two dogs just wanted to play. At this realization, Kairi dropped the defensive act and immediately dropped down on her knees.

"Oh. My. Goodness." The golden dog— probably a golden lab— went straight to her first, tail wagging furiously and tongue dripping with saliva hanging off of it. Kairi squealed at this and began to pet the dog excitedly, cooing at it and shaking its fluffy face. "Aww! You're jus' a fwuffy wittle doggie, ain'tcha? Ain'tcha?" The dog got even more excited at this and began to "hug" her, his large tail beating on the dusty ground before spinning in the air like a fan.

"I don't remember him having a dog- er, _dogs_." Xavier crossed his arms, watching the Riku and Kairi play with the dogs. Naminé swallowed, slowly leaving the car again. She gave a giggle as she started to play with the black dog. Naminé couldn't tell what kind of dog it was.

"Pluto.." Kairi read off the yellow dog's tag. "What's that dog's name, Nam?"

"It says…" Naminé began, trying to find a collar under all its black fur. "Erm… Goofy. Th-this one's name is Goofy."

"D'aww! Pluto and Goofy! Hewo, Pwuto! Hewo dere! Hewo!" Kairi continued the baby talk, cuddling the dog until he was belly up, the redhead rubbing his tummy aggressively. As she did so, Xavier left for the front door of the log house after noticing their great granduncle hadn't appeared at the sound of their arrival.

As he climbed the steps, Xavier paused as the wooden door opened, an old man stepping out. He had a blue vest over a matching plaid long sleeve shirt, dirty old boots, and a fur hat topping the country look off. His wide gaze was quite intimidating to say the least, even making Xavier sweat a bit. "Who's here trespassing on private property?"

No one moved an inch. Kairi leaned toward Riku and Naminé a bit and whispered, "Wrrrooong address?"

Xavier, however, was smirking, amused by his cousins' responses. "Long time, no see, 'Siddy." The old man held his amber gaze for a moment more, seeming to grow ever more irritated. The three behind them held their breath. Then, he suddenly burst out laughing, nearing Xavier with his arms extended widely.

"Ohohoh, Xavier! How long has it been? My, look at how you've grown!" cheered the old man, embracing the other in a hug which was gladly returned.

"It's been, ehhh, about seven years now? Howzit, Yen Sid?"

"Ah, I've been well. Grew lonely after your aunt passed away, so I went and got myself some companions." Yen Sid gestured to the dogs that were still waiting for some pettings. "There should be a third around here; Goofy had a young lass a few years ago and her owner was kind enough to give us one pup. Anywho, how have you been, Xavier? How is ol' Xeha?"

"Still kicking and, as always, still holding that plan for world domination and such." A moment passed and they both began to laugh at the idea. Calming himself, Xavier continued, "Ah, he's doing well. Said his arthritis started acting up again but he's still swinging at those golf balls. Says he wants to try surfing again but with those achy bones of his, he'll kick the bucket before his first wave. I think he's hit his midlife crisis finally."

Yen Sid nodded in understanding, concern and contemplation marking his eyes. "Well, as you young folk always say 'you only live once,' I suppose. You must remind me to call him sometime today, Xavier." After feeling the stares of the three teenagers below, the old man finally turned his gaze to acknowledge them. "And who might you have brought with you, Xavier?"

Xavier turned back and offered a smirk to the three, gesturing them to come and introduce themselves to the old man. Reluctantly, the obeyed, standing and leaving the dogs to meet Yen Sid, Naminé being the most hesitant of the three step-siblings. The three signed the shaka as their silent greeting, soft and nervous smiles all tracing their lips. "Sid, this is my cousin Riku and his step-siblings Kairi and Naminé. They're twins." He added the last part quickly, answering the peculiar stare the old man held. Understanding soon followed the curious gaze before confusion took its place. He added again, "Good luck trying to find out what their original hair color is." This earned a giggle from both the girls. Understanding once again appeared on his expression, as did a smirk. He knew how crafty kids these times could be.

"It's nice to meet you sir. Back home, we're called the 'Arts & Crafts Twins'. She's 'Arts' and I'm 'Crafts'," Kairi explained with a soft laugh.

" _And_ she's the lead dancer in our school's dance-slash-hula club, along with Naminé," Riku added, proud of his friend-slash-step-sister. Naminé flushed in embarrassment.

"Yen Sid replicated the laugh, intrigued and impressed. "Please, no need for formalities. You may call me Yen Sid, Yen, or Sid. Any nickname is fair for me. After all, we are family now, are we not?" He gave each twin a short hug afterward, chuckling. He then turned to Riku. "And you must be Riku. I've heard so much about you, my dear boy. Captain in your school's Track and Field team, eh?"

Riku shuffled uncomfortably, obviously unnerved if at all. "Future ex-track and field lead runner," he corrected, not looking to see whatever disappointed stare the elderly would give him. He's had enough people look at him for his decision anyway. "I held the record for two years for fastest relay racer, but I'm backing out next year if no one can break my record. Maybe I'll join the Robotics club or the Windsurfing team."

When he lifted his head up, Yen Sid still remained with that impressed look and Riku felt his head tilt just a bit. "Interesting, my boy! We've gained some talented youths, have we not, Xavier?"

The young adult in question nodded in agreement. "They're a handful at home, though. Riku's always at it hacking something or creating websites, Kairi's always making and selling phone cases and Naminé's always drawing. They're all amazing, honestly. Heh, meanwhile I'm just holding a steady job at _Roy's Waikiki_ as a waiter."

"Oh, come on Xavier. Give yourself some credit. Yen Sid, did you know Xav can do the most craziest yo-yo tricks, like, _ever!_ I swear, this one time, the yo-yo came _off the string!_ But then he caught it and-" Then Kairi was off, embarrassing her step-cousin, who countered with the fact that Riku, Kairi and Naminé all had _paying futures_ with their talents, while his was basically just a hobby that could never have any real future.

Yen Sid chuckled at the obviously close relationship these four had. Realizing they were still standing outside, he quickly began, "Why don't we settle inside now? Then you could tell me all about Xavier's extraordinary yo-yo skills. Meanwhile, Xavier, Riku and I will get your luggage into your rooms."

"Oh! Yeah, sure!"

As Kairi and Naminé entered the log cabin and Riku and Xavier descended the short steps toward the car, the old man's gaze wandered to the forest trees just south of his house. A soft and kind smile formed on his lips.

* * *

"I thought you said they'd be here?"

"I did- oh, look! There they are, there they are!"

"Okay, shush, then, Sora! They'll hear us!"

The two forest-dwellers were peeking through the brambles of a large bush, while Ventus stayed in the tree above them. They were hidden well behind the brambles and leaves and they had a perfect downhill gaze at the cabin; far enough they couldn't be seen and close enough they could see, and if they needed to, they could escape down the other side of the hill and lose them before they even reach the lake. But they knew the sight and hearing of a human were half, if not a quarter, of theirs so they should be safe. Still, Sora felt antsy about Ventus in the tree above— what if he fell? What if he gave them up? What if _Sora_ gave them up? Or Erastus? Sora's entire green-leaf rested upon this spy mission going well, and so did Erastus' and Ventus' too.

They were silent as they watched the strange box move toward the wooden house. So caught up with holding their breaths and focusing on the new humans, they didn't realize a certain black dog had waddled up behind them.

"Hey, guys."

Erastus and Sora both squeaked in alarm before their hands went over each other's mouths to shut each other up. Turning, they spotted Max, sitting casually with his short tail wagging about in amusement.

"Max?!" Sora whispered urgently. "What are you _doing here?!_ You scared the fox-dung out of us!"

Max simply chuckled more. "Oh quit your whining, Sora. 'Sides, they're not gonna see ya. You know humans; they're dumb and harmless."

"Vanitas says they're sneaky and cruel."

"That's what they say about foxes too, but look at how you turned out."

"Hey!"

Erastus chuckled a bit before shuffling in between them. "Alright, alright, calm down you two. Look, they've already met Goofy and Pluto!" The three then turned to the bushes, peering through the leaves to see the humans.

Sora was entranced by the silver hair of the males. "Are those albinos?"

"Sora, shh!"

The taller albino was wearing a black dress shirt, the sleeves folded at his elbows while the shorter one had a black shirt underneath a pale yellow sleeveless jacket. From where Sora was, he didn't have any idea what colored eyes they had, but he was curious.

The two girls fondly playing with the dogs looked oddly similar to each other. One had the most scarlet hair, but he could see the roots of them were faded to brown. Odd. She was wearing a pink dress with darker flowers decorating the lighter parts. She had dark, tanned skin, like Sora did, but what he found even more odd was her legs, which were white and little crimson crowns pattered the sides of them. Was that some sort of human fashion statement? Her hair was pulled in a ponytail and a silver heart-shaped necklace hung from her neck. She was pretty.

The other girl was blonde and her hair was braided, and just like the other girl, her roots were darkened brown. She wore a very cute yellow sundress, also patterned with pretty flowers, though the designs were smaller than the other's. She was simpler than the redheaded girl. Curiously, he turned to Ventus and then Erastus. Ventus was staring unblinking at one of the girls and part of him hoped it wasn't the redheaded girl. Erastus, however, was staring at the taller albino boy, who was talking with the old man from the cabin— Yen Sid was his name, according to Goofy. They sat watching, not exactly hearing what they were saying, but catching some names at the same time. They learned they were called "Riku", "Kairi" and "Naminé." Soon, they appeared to be parting, perhaps getting themselves ready for the day ahead and getting their bags ready to put in. After all, didn't Goofy say they were staying for the "summer", as humans put it.

A shiver ran through the three forest-dwellers, however, when the old man stared _directly at them._

* * *

"Oh, but you shoulda seen them, Bill! The girl, the redhead I was talking about, she was.. she was so _pretty!"_ ranted the exasperated and obviously hormonal fox-wolf boy as he paced back and forth around starry Dreamland, as he liked to call it. His face was red as— oh, well as red as that Kairi girl's hair. "Her name is Kairi, I think. She's, like, she- well, she has skin like me, like, dark and tan and I'm not sure but- but I think she's got those dot things too-"

"YOU MEAN FRECKLES?"

"Yes! Freckles! Ohh man, she's so pretty…"

"UH, YEAH, I GOT THAT, KID. YOU SAID THAT ABOUT FIVE TIMES IN THE SPAN OF THREE MINUTES. SO, WHEN YA GONNA INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO THE LUCKY LADY?"

Sora stopped and he folded his ears back. "You mean like, meet her..? Oh, w-well, Daddy and Vani a-and Mama all said to stay away from humans, e-even Eraqus… What if they really _are_ dangerous, though?"

"AH, WHAT A CLASSIC FORBIDDEN ROMANCE STORY," Bill hummed to himself, sitting on a crescent-shaped tree. "LISTEN FOXY, YOU'RE IN YOUR PRIME! CREATURES LIKE YOU ONLY LIVE FOR LIKE, 50 YEARS AND THEN THEY KICK THE BUCKET. I MEAN, SURE, THAT'S A LOOOONG TIME FOR YOU— WHAT'RE YOU, LIKE 15? FOR CREATURES LIKE ME, THAT'S BARELY THE EQUIVALENT OF FIVE SECONDS. I SAY MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR LIFE NOW. AFTER ALL, SHE'S ONLY HERE FOR ONE SUMMER, RIGHT? WHAT'RE THE CHANCES THAT YOU'LL EVER SEE HER AGAIN?"

Sora hesitated again, hugging himself as he thought. He had a point, but… what was worth more? The trust of his family or the love of some random girl? The brunet glanced to Bill as if he held the answer. The word "Kairi" was literally written in his eyeball.

Girl it was then.

"But what about Van?"

"BAH, VANITAS IS NOTHING BUT A STICK IN THE MUD LIKE YOUR GRAMPS! HOW MUCH DOES HE CARE ABOUT YOUR HAPPINESS JUST TO KEEP YA AWAY FROM YOUR TRUE LOVE?"

Sora lowered his gaze, holding his hands pitifully to his chest. "Everything he's ever done was for my protection…"

"YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE, KID!"

Also a good point… But what was the point of living for today when today could be stripped from you? "I'll.. Have to think about it, Bill."

Bill returned to his pose on the tree, legs crossed and hands behind his triangle figure, only now one hand was held in front of him and a clock materialized in it. "BETTER THINK SOON! LIFE CLOCK'S-A-TICKIN'! 'COURSE, I COULD ALWAYS… GIVE YA A HAND?" Sora's ears pointed up in interest, staring at the blue flame in Bill's hand where a clock was once, before he mentally kicked himself— literally. A foot materialized and actually kicked him. Hey, it's _his_ Dreamland!

"Ouch! Ergh…Uh... No thanks, Bill. I'd.. Rather it be by my own standards, if I choose to do it."

The extended hand closed and the flame vanished. "SUIT YOURSELF! I'LL MAKE SURE THEY PLAY THAT ICELANDIC POP SENSATION BABBA MUSIC YOU AND THAT BEAR LISTEN TO AT YOUR FUNERAL THEN."

* * *

"Order, order!" Eraqus' voice rang, his two youngest sons banging on pots and pans to gain the attention of the restless beasts of the forests. After a few moments, they all begrudgingly silenced themselves, sitting or standing with their attention trained on the old deer. Clearing his throat, he nodded. This was the first "Monster Meeting" of the "summer", as their local teen werewolf liked to put it in human terms.

Due to the rise of human activity in the strange town of Gravity Falls during this time of year, they all scheduled thrice as many midnight meetings with at least one representative of each group to attend. These were just to keep everyone in the loop of events, threats, etc. It was to keep the monsters— especially the weaker ones— safe. Of course, it wasn't exactly a written law that the monsters couldn't interact with humans, though they seemed to fare well enough just minding their business.

"Alright, now let's get this underway, shall we?" Eraqus began after taking in a deep breath. "Now, as you all know, Summer has arrived and the Summer tourists and visitors will be flocking in left and right. I know there isn't a set rule on no human interactions, but I implore you all to be careful this time of year. We've had many close calls before and we wouldn't want to forget what happened to Shmebulock Senior…" The gnomes all looked down, one of them taking his hat off in respect to their fallen gnome. Eraqus went on. "With that thought in mind, let's get down to updates on human activity. Manotaurs?"

Chutzpar was their representative, the only one sent to go since they were caught up watching late night football recorded from several months ago. At least that's what Vanitas gathered. It's always usually the same thing each time, really. They were never good at coming up with excuses.

Standing, the beast cleared his throat. Vanitas prepared himself for fractured and incomplete sentences because let's face it, these meat heads aren't the smartest 'taurs. "No activity seen by the Manotaurs of humans yet! But if one trespasses we will tear them apart LIMB BY LIMB!" He then let out an exaggerated roar, punching the ground and making it crack. Vanitas had to hold himself from bursting out in laughter as Eraqus waved his arms to calm the now yelling behemoth. Currently, from the bizarre family that is Vanitas', the whole family would be here, except Sora had a sudden stomach ache that wouldn't let him go so Terra had to stay with him. Vanitas, Ventus, Erastus would have stayed too, but the two younger nuts just _insisted_ on coming with while Vanitas had some updates of his own. So it was just the old geezer, the two crazy babies, the fish mom and Vanitas attending, Aqua because she apparently represented the underwater life, aka her other family or whatever.

"Alright, alright! We understand," Eraqus calmed the 'taur who in turn sat down gruffly while crossing his arms. "There is no need to _harm_ the humans, rather we should resort to scaring them off." Vanitas rolled his eyes. If he had the choice to, he'd…

"Jeff, you seem to have something to say. Is there any news on your part?"

The attention was then drawn to the gnomes. Their brown-bearded representative was rolling on his heels, flushed with a smile of satisfaction. "Why, yes! There is news! Some very terrific news, in fact! Weeee.. Have found our new Gnome Queen!"

Half of the small crowd didn't seem all to happy for them, just alarmed and perhaps a bit impressed those bozos finally found what they were looking for. Vanitas wasn't even an inch impressed though, rather _un_ impressed at that. Maybe a bit bored too because that's what they said a few summers ago and they all ended up "single" because their girl had a plane ticket to South Carolina anyway. Slowly, the startled crowd began to congratulate them once Jeff shot everyone a look. Vanitas could see Eraqus unnerved slightly.

"Er, that's wonderful news, Jeff."

"Why, thank you! Also, might I add she is _preeeetty!_ Oh, and there's two new kids down at that Shack at the edge of town." One monster gasped before being shushed.

"Speaking of which," Vanitas added in casually, arms crossed as he ignored the stares. "There's new humans at the old man's cabin a bit up north too. Dunno how many yet; I'd have to check with one of the dogs."

"Really?" Eraqus gave him a look of unbelief, worry seeping into his eyes. He turned to Jeff, who seemed a bit peeved that his update was interrupted. "Two you say? Do you know what they're like? Could they possibly-"

Jeff waved his hand. "Quit worrying, old man. They're twins, like ten or something. I've already got their names too— Dipper and Mabel. Harmless." Vanitas narrowed his eyes at the dwarf thing. He could smell a missing fact. Whatever the little creep was keeping to himself was no doubt going to eventually bite him and the rest of the gnomes on the butt.

The rest of the meeting continued on without much to report other than the fact fishing season on the horizon, so they warned the lake-dwellers to be on the lookout for hooks and bait. The last thing they needed was some idiot trying to find proof of the Gobblewonker again.

The next day, however, would have Vanitas all but passed out from laughing so hard at the sight of the Gnomes "rage mode".

* * *

Naminé stared out the thin window of the room she and her sister had to share in this strange cabin. Kairi was in Riku's room, chatting it up like always, obviously too excited about this new "adventure" to sleep. The blonde glanced around the room. There was no clock anywhere. Frowning slightly, she pulled her phone out from her small purse that hung off the edge of her bed. 11:13 PM. Yep, no doubt Riku was getting exhausted by Kairi by now.

A soft smile ran across her face, amused by her sister's antics. She returned to her sketchbook, detailing and finalizing the little sparrow in the corner. Her pencil glided across its wing, bolding the outline of the image before she concentrated on its little, black eye, making sure there was still a bit of shine and making even a reflection in it. She decided the silhouette of a cloud would be the reflection. After a moment or two of sketching and detailing the image, instinct made the young artist glance out the window again. She always looked out the window sometimes, if there was one, just randomly; sometimes she'd be in the middle of drawing, sometimes she'd look before she even began. She never thought much of it, but at this moment, her breath was caught in her throat.

Outside, she saw a figure, black and silhouetted against the light of the half moon that illuminated the forest from behind all the trees. From where she was staring from, the figure's legs looked like twigs and didn't seem to have any arms— maybe they were behind their back? In front? Did they not have any in the first place? Then their eyes opened, revealing luminescent blue eyes that reflected the light of an area. It reminded her of a dog's eyes whenever it would get excited. They both stared at each other for another minute, both seemingly startled by the other. Then the figure began to retreat in a frenzy and—

Wings. They spread out from the figure loosely and when they turned, it looked like they were used like arms. Naminé pressed herself against the cold glass, not bothering that her sketchbook and pencil fell from her lap and between the bed and wall. Her breath was stolen from her and her heart was racing. Before, it was doing dips, scared that the figure was a thief or something but now she wasn't so sure….

What on Earth is this place?

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the terribly long wait! School got erm, hectic there eheh. Plus tfw you start a drabble _and won't let it go until you finish it_ so there's that too lol**

 **Anyway, so I've decided to just place unspoken/unwritten headcanons in the end Author's Notes so I'll try my best!**

 **HEADCANONS:**

 **-Kairi makes _everyone's_ phone cases herself. She will not let anyone actually buy their own cases so she pretty much forces everyone to let her make a case, free of charge.**

 **-Sora's eyes grow a very light, icy blue, almost teal/cyan in the Dreamland/dreamscape and his pupils become white.**

 **-After the last chapter, when Vanitas hurt Sora after him sleepwalking, Sora stopped "acting weird" and Vanitas stopped inquiring about his strangeness.**

 **-Riku and Xavier are half-hawaiian, half-japanese but they were born in Hawaii. It's not so much that they're albino, like a _rare_ albino? But that their entire family has white hair and dark skin naturally. There's been, like, only one black-haired or brown-haired child in the past 30 years.**

 **-Kairi and Namine are both brunettes but they dye their hair so often they might as well not even have a natural hair color.**

 **-Kairi and Namine are both half-American, Half-Japanese but they were born in Britain and moved to Hawaii when they were about five.**

 **-Ventus is actually part human, which is why he's the only ever recorded male harpy "in this world." His mother was killed because of her human relations and he was tortured out pure spite by the other harpies and even their lead Erinyes. They tried to hang him too, which is when the Eras found him and saved his life.**

 **-Ventus' triggers include: Fire, feather plucking, bird claws, blood, ropes, collars, spears, close-up beaks and eyeballs out of the sockets, aka the kind scientists keep in jars, I guess**

 **-Eraqus is actually the leader of his tribe, the Cervidae Tribe, but was cast out when they found out they were reconnecting with Terra and Aqua. They accepted Ventus, sure, but what they're against is cross-breed relationships, and that means no associations. Eraqus and his boys have been hiding from their tribe for the past year but have yet to tell Terra and his family about their situation. He has a hoof-shaped brand burned into his back, as does Erastus. For some reason, they never touched Ventus.**

 **-The relocated Vulpes-Lupus clan and the Cervidae tribe are ironically neighbors but they're archenemies. Oddly enough, they've never had any wars or battles with each other.**

 **-(Only the mer-folk + Terra knows the Gobblewonker exists. They keep shut about him because that's what he's requested of them, fearful of their reactions etc.)**


	7. Fishing Season

**Soooo so sorry for the long wait! Things got a lil downhill then uphill then loopty-loop and then busy and well, AH, well that doesn't matter, anyhow**

 **So a quick update on tumblr and stuff, I still post drawings on my personal tumble cheri-berry-keyblade, and i no longer go by "loyal-toxthe-bxne," instead I go by "Skyfullxfhearts" but I'm hardly on there anymore- Hiatus and such. Anyhow, I ALSO have a twitter cheriberrixblade and thinking of making a Gravity Over Hearts twitter? idk, it's up to you guys. So moving along, here's the new chapter you've been waiting for and again, I'll have headcanons at the end of the chapter~ Enjoy!**

* * *

June 16, 2012

" _Fine_ , Vanitas," Terra huffed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You can hunt something else for lunch, now _drop it!"_

Vanitas smirked wickedly, stoked to finally being able to hunt something _other_ than fish for once. " _Thank_ you!" He threw his arms up in victory. Terra rolled his eyes and resumed his organizing of his little berry stash again.

Erastus, Ventus and Sora were in their own little sleeping pile in the corner of the cave room, Sora's higher abdomen sprawled over the lower belly of Erastus with Ventus curled up between both of them like an egg.

Meanwhile, Eraqus was weaving yet another basket to add to their increasing collection just as Vanitas left to the shared room of his and his baby brother's to dig out the spears he had been saving for precisely this moment. The cave was silent for some time, save for the occasional snort of Sora but other than that it was quite peaceful.

Then Aqua burst through the waterpool suddenly, slamming her webbed hands on the rocky ground with her eyes desperate and near-crazy. Vanitas came rushing out and all the remaining attention was on her (minus the sleeping rabbits).

"Honey?" Terra began, concerned.

" _It's time."_

Terra and Eraqus paled while Vanitas just smirked and continued with his organizing. "Oh my, what a tragedy," he snidely laughed. "No fish for lunch, I suppose!" Terra smacked his shoulder, earning a small yelp followed by an annoyed glare.

"That's not fair to your brother, Vanitas," Terra huffed. "You know he doesn't eat anything else but fish."

"And berries, and leaves, and fruits, and flowers, and bark, and oh, berries, berries, and did I mention berries? Because he eats plenty," Vanitas counted sarcastically on his fingers.

Terra rolled his eyes before he turned back to his wife. "Any other news?"

She shrugged, having been calmed. "Just trouble with my brother, but what else is new?" she hummed in amusement, resting her head on her hand. "Also the crazy bearded human is at his crazy shenanigans again."

"What else is new?" Terra chuckled, just about finishing his berry sorting. "How're those baskets coming along, Father?"

"They're sturdy enough to hold fish _and_ keep away from bears," came the confident reply, the greying deer smiling proudly at his son. "It'll be enough to get some new clothes from the Beast Market this week as well."

"That's good. The boys were complaining about getting new clothes too," Aqua grinned hopefully, the parents' eyes trailing toward the small pile of fur and feathers. Ventus' eyes were wide and aware yet he stayed where he was, nestled in the warmth of his brother and uncle.

"We don't have to worry about them, then. But we will have to tell Erastus and Sora not to wander too close to the lake now," Terra made a note, resting by his father. "Vanitas, we can count on you, right?"

"Don't you always?"

"Don't be sassy."

"Too late."

The adults all shook their heads, knowing that when Vanitas starts, there's no stop. Moments more passed with silence, only the clattering of arrowheads and rustling of basket weaving sounded. Peace fell over them once again, but, as per usual, something broke the silence. This time it was Erastus and Sora, the fawn having turned over quickly and the folf in turn sliding off and flopping on the floor. Alarmed, he jolted up awake, startling the egg Ventus and Erastus as well.

"Wha.. What?" Sora slurred, looking around. "What."

Vanitas snorted.

* * *

Xavier threw down a pile of fishing poles of all sorts. The three siblings looked up to him and the old man with perplexed stares. Riku gestured to the pile of fish sticks. "Uh…"

"Do you know what day it is, boy?" Yen Sid began, crossing his arms with a smirk.

"Uh, Saturday?" Kairi answered for him.

"Okay, correct, buuuuuut iiiiit's fishing seasooooon!" Xavier cheered. His enthusiasm made Riku cringe a bit.

"I have _never_ seen you fish, ever, Xavier," a very skeptical Riku deadpanned. Xavier rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"You'll have a lot of fun, trust me."

"Like we 'had fun' at that party last year?" Kairi smirked, leaning forward and resting her head on her hand, brows wiggling.

Yen Sid stared at Xavier as if he just grew two heads. " _Xavier?!"_

His face lit up. "SHE'S NOT TALKING ABOUT THAT, OH MY GOD, I INVITED SOME OF MY ROUGHER FRIENDS AND THEY LIT THE TREE OUT FRONT ON FIRE!" Xavier turned to Kairi and pointed to her. "And that party was _off the hook_."

Kairi and Riku fell over in laughter, tears poking out of the redhead's eyes. Naminé giggled while Xavier just covered his face and let out a loud groan.

Yen Sid cleared his throat after having himself a good laugh too. "Anyhow," he began, the echoed laughter of the three siblings having died down. "Your parents have entrusted Xavier and I with entertaining you three. So today, we'll be going to the edge of the lake to fish."

"Tomorrow, we'll fish in the middle of the lake," Xavier added.

"Why don't we fish in the middle _today_?" Kairi inquired, raising a brow.

"It's open season for fishing, so the dock's gonna be full and flooded by noon," the albino explained simply. Riku and Kairi exchanged glances but shrugged anyway. "So that's why we're taking the scenic route. Sid's been keeping a trail nice and clean for fishing season too. It's under his property so it'll be free for us to use, heh, year-round, if we wanted!" Riku groaned at that.

"Oh come oooon," Kairi leaned against the cranky teen dramatically. "I'm sure it'll be fun!" She wrapped her arm around his neck and gestured to the two white-haired men before them, smiling hopefully. "Look at 'em, all happy and… excited… _Y'kno I don't think I've seen Xavier happy about anything, honestly._ " She whispered the final part, her smile tilting a bit awkwardly.

They studied the two who held the sideways grins for a moment before the older step-sibling sighed, rubbed his eyes, and stood up. "Alright, alright, fine." The hopeful grins on the two grew into elated beams of light, and they began to gather up their tools and start the hike up to their fishing spot.

"Oh, crap," Xavier stopped and stood straight just as they finished setting up their fishing spot. He was patting his pockets for something. "I forgot my phone in case your parents call. I'll be back- Uh, Sid, did anyone lock the cabin?" Yen Sid merely turned back to toss the keys to the younger albino, him catching it with a jump. "Thanks! I'll be back," he repeated, and he turned to leave.

"Um, w-wait, Xavier?" Naminé's petite voice sounded out, Xavier stopping to glance back to her, expression curious yet gentle. "C-can I, um, come with? I think I forgot something too."

"Yyyeaaahh," Riku began, coming up behind her with Kairi, his hands in his pockets and her arms behind her back casually. "Can we-"

"Naminé, yes, Riku and Kairi no," Xavier stiffly answered, giving Riku a deadpan look. A pout immediately sprouted on his face and his arms crossed one over the other. Riku opened his mouth to protest before he was given an answer to something he never asked- "You probably left your phone, which you're not allowed to have, mind you, and you're not gonna come and get it."

"Okay, first, my phone's right here-" Kairi huffed, raising her phone and waving it around.

"And second," Riku continued, "we only wanted to explore a little! I mean, you gotta admit, fishing's a bit boring- you just stay in one place and wait for your worm to go down and-"

"Alright! Alright… God, you are _such_ a whiny little…" Xavier's complaint trailed off, rubbing his eyes and shaking his head with a sigh. "Okay, how about you keep Yen Sid some company until I come back. Then, you and Kairi can go and play pirate or something in the woods." The two step-siblings beamed joyfully until Xavier put his finger up. "But."

"Uh oh…"

"Both phones stay with me, and you'll have to use Yen's flip phone in case something happens."

A loud groan dragged out of the two. The drama queens looked about ready to melt and die at that. "Are you _kidding_ me?" Riku complained. Yen Sid and Xavier both cackled to themselves.

"There's always a price for freedom, children," Yen Sid hummed as he began to bait his hook. Naminé inwardly winced at the worm squirming around in his firm grip- the hook was poked into its body and she could have _sworn_ she heard it squeal in pain. The blond turned away, instead focusing on the three bickering dummies before her. Soon enough, Riku and Kairi caved to Xavier's demand, favoring exploration and adventure over technology- though Riku would have liked to have his music. After a moment or two more, Naminé and Xavier were off toward the cabin.

"Say," Yen Sid began, breaking the silence that had overtaken the moment. Riku and Kairi glanced up to see the old man holding two fishing lines and a foam container of worms. "Mind helping me bait these hooks?"

They looked at each other, grimacing. "Eugh…"

It was midday. On a Saturday. On a Saturday on the day that fishing season began. So, that was wonderful because today just so happened to be _bath day._ Sora sat grumpily in the shallow water of the far side of the lake, far away from where any tourist would think of going. His arms were crossed over his bare chest as Vanitas roughly cleaned his hide.

"You know, this would go a _lot_ smoother if you would CLEAN YOURSELF?!" the black wolf growled, making sure to pinch his brother's scruff.

"Ow!" Sora whined, standing up abruptly and hissing at the raven, rubbing his poor fur. "That hurt!"

"Okay, boys," Aqua's voice sounded after she surfaced her face and crawled toward them in the shallow water. "That's enough fighting. Vanitas, did you at least clean _yourself_?" He nodded. "Good, your father needs you at the cave. He's clueless with how to skin a rabbit and he looks just about ready to throw up."

Vanitas moaned at that, dragging his hand down his face. "Alright, tell him I'll be there in a sec." Aqua nodded and scooted back into the deeper water, leaving the boys to themselves. She trusted them. The eldest brother turned to his younger one. "Sora, can I leave you to finishing your bath _without_ you getting into trouble?"

"Yeees," Sora answered. "I mean, I won't be alone either- Era and Ven's been just over there this whole time so…" He pointed to the trees where Erastus and Ventus both popped their heads out.

"Aw, Sora, you said you wouldn't tell we were here! _We were gonna scare him!"_ Erastus whined, pouting and crossing his arms.

Vanitas gave a sigh. "Buddy… pal, friend, amigo, pally, bud, chum, bro…" he began. "We all knew you were there _before_ you were even there…" Erastus gave a whine just as Ventus wheezed an amused whistle-laugh. "In any case, guys, just… stick together until I come back, alright? And if you see a human, just-"

"Pretend to be a statue, yeah, yeah." Sora rolled his eyes. The technique they began a few years ago was funny at first- it actually worked too. The humans here were quite the foolish kind. Now, however, it was just a sad, sad sight to see.

The wolf nodded and started toward the path back to their cave home, taking his black-and-purple striped shirt off the hanging branch. "Good. Behave yourselves, alright?"

They saluted him as he went off. A moment or two passed by and the coast was clear. The three looked at each other and grinned. Sora opened his mouth to speak, standing up before Erastus shot him a look.

"No, you finish your bath 'cause you really do stink. Ven and I'll head back up to the cabin, but… seriously, you really need this bath, man…"

Sora pouted and crossed his arms.

* * *

Xavier was taking a long while to find his phone. Naminé sat seated on the front steps of the cabin, her sketchpad in her lap. She peacefully listened to the humming of the birds, the sound of the gentle breeze that rustled the leaves… It was a beautiful landscape to draw, but she decided to leave it until later. It was best to save the paper because Xavier could be out any moment, and it'd be ruined for her.

She sighed. What was taking him so long? The blonde had half the mind to just head back without him, after all she did know how to get back from here. But she knew if she did, Xavier would freak out if he came back only to find her missing.

Oh, well. She might as well doodle a bit.

* * *

Ventus was a little ways away before Erastus, but he didn't blame him- he must have simply been excited to get to see the humans again. He was going quite fast, though…

Erastus was about to speed up his pace when the deer caught a sound- speaking, someone was talking. But who? It couldn't be Vanitas, he went the other way…

His head shot up when he remembered Ventus- gone. Erastus' heart froze over.

"Ven?" he called but in a low voice, aware of the people in the woods. "Ventus?" he called a bit louder. "Ventus, this isn't funny! Come out now!"

No reply. He must have gone up ahead… Erastus began his chase uphill, careful not to attract any unwanted attention.

* * *

Naminé's head shot up when she heard a tree branch snap. She wondered if it was one of the dogs, but she couldn't see anything… Was it just her imagination? Shrugging after a moment of silence, the young artist returned to her drawing.

A moment, one, two… Snap, again. She furrowed her brows in concern as she looked up again- behind the trees, she saw a figure. The same figure from the other night… She stood up, her heart growing cold and speeding up.

"H-hello?... Wh-who's there?" she called out softly. The figure winced and hid behind the tree. Were they scared? "Um… I… I won't hurt you… I-I promise!"

She heard a soundless whistle echo from the person- breathy. As if they didn't have a voice- or lost it, at least. Instinctively holding her pencil between her fingers with her sketchbook drawn at her side, held by the other hand, the timid artist cautiously moved toward the tree, tilting her head a bit to try and get a glimpse of the stranger. Her nerves shook, a sense of dread overcoming her as she drew nearer and nearer. Why was she going closer? Everyone knew you **never** go toward the stranger in...

The stranger seemed to notice this advancement and poked just a side of his head out- golden locks, cerulean blue eyes, and… small, white wings on the side of his head. They seemed to act like ears- they moved down as soon as they saw her. The eye widened and suddenly he was gone- dashing through the forest from whence he came. Gasping, Naminé suddenly found herself chasing after him- it was a boy, she noted.

She called after him: "Wait! Wait, _please!"_

Her shoes weren't made for running, yet she still ran. She jumped away from thorn bushes and large branches, ducking away from tree limbs that stuck out- she wasn't made for running either, she found. Athleticism wasn't her forte- that was Kairi's department. _She_ was the sports-y twin. Not Naminé. That's why after just five minutes, the blonde was out of breath already; her lungs were burning and her throat and nostrils felt harsh, cold.

She tried to keep up, to keep him in her line of sight, but just as she was about to call out to him- her foot got caught on a large tree branch on the ground, tripping her over. Her pencil and sketchbook flew from her grasp in front of her, some pages tearing from the spine of the book. Naminé cried out, blocking her face with her arms as quick as possible, fearful of any twigs stabbing her face. With a thud, her frail body slammed on the floor.

One, two, three moments she stayed, seemingly paralyzed on the messy ground. Gentle crushing of old leaves and snapping of twigs alerted her to remain vigilant of her surroundings and soon a figure- no, _the_ figure- stood before her, looming over her with a soft sort of patience that surprisingly soothed her. Her soft, azure eyes blinked open and she gazed up slowly, hesitant and fearful of what she'd see-

But she was never as calm, mesmerized and confused as she was in that instant.

"Roxas?"

* * *

Kairi's giggles run throughout the forest, their footsteps rushing through the aged leaves and already crumbled sticks and old pine cones and the like.

"I can't believe he let us go on our own!" Kairi exclaimed breathlessly, her grin brightening her face considerably. " _And_ with our phones!"

Riku chuckled at her. "Heheh, yeah, that was quite the deal."

It really was, although the two did sort of felt bad for letting Yen Sid be all alone, but there was no damage done. After all, it was the old man who suggested they be on their way in the first place. Who were they to ignore the recommendations of an elderly, wise man?

Riku watched his sister-in-law jump upon a log and balance on it with energy. "Careful there, Kai. Might break your heel."

Kairi gave a smug face, sticking her tongue out. "Hah hah, very funny, Snow. That was _one_ time I fell off the stupid pole thing."

"And it was _funny_."

Kairi rolled her eyes at the memory and the silly teen. "Sure it was, since you were freaking out so bad, y'almost started crying." Now it was Riku's turn to become flustered. The redhead simply laughed before jumping off the log.

A peaceful sort of silence filled the air and Kairi began to hum a soft tune, her head bobbing a bit to it. Riku chuckled as he watched her dance a bit to herself, her turning and smiling like the dork she was. Then they paused-

A hum. Another one that wasn't anything familiar to either of them- it didn't even sound human. Trading glances with each other, they furrowed their brows in confusion and mystery. What was that? Then Kairi smirked deviously and started down the path toward the sound.

"Kairi, wait!" Riku called out to her, extending his arm out before he grunted, smacking his own face in defeat. When she's started on something, she won't be stopped. He knew that as much as everyone else. So, instead of standing there uselessly calling for her, he raced down with her to follow.

"Kairi, you don't even know what's down there!" he whispered harshly as he caught up with her.

"Why do you think I'm going?" she countered with a teasing gleam in her eyes. "That's the only way I'm gonna find out! Quit loafing around and come on, slowpoke!" The redhead then took off, her laughter echoing in the air after her.

Riku grunted and chased after her, careful not to trip on any stone, pine cone or stick as he did. "Wait! Up!"

They reached the bottom, the shoreline of the lake- and Riku could see Kairi barely from behind the small yet wildly grown trees. She was frozen to her spot, her eyes wide and her dark skin a sickly yellow- pale. Riku furrowed his brows in concern, wondering what it could have been to make her this…

His thought was cut short as soon as he neared and his heart skipped a beat, astonishment taking hold of his body and his breath just about choking him.

The brunet boy in the water- the ears moved, they were _real_. His tail stuck up in obvious disdain from the water's touch. He didn't seem to notice them either. What was he? Riku's mouth grew dry and he knew Kairi's did too- the boy then turned and his humming stopped and their hearts froze solid.

Azure eyes grew large and horror quickly struck his expression, ears folding back in dread. He looked as sick as Kairi did just a moment before.

They all just stared.

* * *

 **Alright, well this whole thing IS the same episode as the Legend of the Gobblewonker but it'll be broken down into parts, hopefully only two parts though, which wasn't the original plan actually, but whatever. Gotta make do with what ya got, right?**

 **Headcanons**

 **\- The song that Kairi hums is the Gravity Falls theme song while Sora hums Dearly Beloved.**

 **\- Sora hates bath days with a _passion._ He avoids it like the Manotaurs.**

 **\- Namine confuses Ventus with Roxas because Roxas, along with Shion(Xion) and Lea(bbs!Lea) are in her squad- or rather, she's in theirs.**

 **\- Sora has a better sense of smell and hearing than Vanitas, though he still hears and smells far better than any human.**

 **\- Sora more often than not will bark at abSOLUTELY NOTHING.**

 **\- Sora has his own sleeping place with his own bed and toys and such, but often times, in the middle of the night, he'll scoot over to Vanitas' side and will sometimes even just _sleep on top of_ Vanitas too.**

 **\- When Sora gets in trouble, he tries to hide in places where no one can reach him. Vanitas had this habit as a pup but grew out of it.**

 **\- Sora enjoys scratches- if you stop mid-scratch, he'll paw at you until you continue.**

 **\- Even though Sora can CLEARLY cover himself with a blanket, he whines for someone to do it for him. They have to lift up the blanket for him to settle into and when he does, they just lay it over him. When there's a space that he needs to share with someone, he HAS to be in the middle- even if there's no room, he'll find a way.**

 **{ Last 6 hcs credit to Lxyalties }**


End file.
